


Young and Delinquent

by thatlonelywriter



Category: The 100, Young and Hungry
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Basically season 1 of the sitcom Young and Hungry, Bellamy is rich af, Clarke is a Chef, Echo's in the way, F/M, I tried to be funny, M/M, Maya's the housekeeper, Miller's the publicist, Mostly Bellarke based, Raven's the roommate, mostly because Josh and Gabi remind me of Clarke and Bellamy, there's some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-12
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-08-22 02:49:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8269798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatlonelywriter/pseuds/thatlonelywriter
Summary: Clarke Griffin is an aspiring chef looking for money before she drowns in debt and millionaire Bellamy Blake needs a personal chef because why the hell not? Or the one where Bellamy and Clarke don't know how to keep it professional. Basically season 1 of Young and Hungry.





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> So this idea's been swimming around for a while since I watched all 4 seasons of Young and Hungry and I finally decided to write it. So here you go, be sure to tell me what you think.

Clarke Griffin walked up to the penthouse apartment door and took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves. She held her breath and raised her hand to knock quickly before she could wimp out, turn around and head back home. She waited patiently until the door opened to reveal a petite girl with short black curly hair and a kind smiling face, "Hello, may I help you?"

Clarke cleared her throat, "Hi, uhm yes? My name is Clarke Griffin, I'm here for the job interview about the personal chef position?"

"Oh yes, come on in Miss Griffin. Miller is just finishing up with Mr. Florence now. I'm Maya, it's lovely to meet you."

"You too," Clarke smiled and walked into the penthouse, her mouth falling open at the open concept living room and kitchen, it was beautiful and modern and so much bigger than the rundown apartment she shared with her best friend. As her eyes took in the entire space, she looked to the dining room(also open concept) and froze because sitting at the dining table was the Tyler Florence and some other guy who was probably Milton(or whatever Maya said, M something). Clarke couldn't resist walking up to the two men and throwing out a hand for the chef to shake, "Hello Mr. Florence, I'm Clarke Griffin, big fan."

Tyler Florence looked at Clarke and smiled, "Glad to hear it, Miss Griffin," he turned back to Milton, "Are we good here?"

Milton nodded, jotting down notes as he spoke, "Yes sir, we'll call you back as soon as Mr. Blake makes his decision."

Mr. Florence nodded and Clarke couldn't help but blush when he looked at her and winked, he was definitely not too bad on the eyes. Milton waved at him until the front door shut behind the professional chef then turned to look at her with a disapproving scoff, "Ugh, since when are we hiring broke college girls?"

"Excuse me?" Clarke was caught off guard by his sudden flip-of-a-switch mood change.

"Position's filled by Mr. Florence, so go home to your little rats nest," Milton spoke, a dreamy undertone in his voice when he said the chef's name but it disappeared under the cold tone for the rest of the sentence.

Clarke sighed, placing a hand on her hip, "Mr. Blake isn't here to make the decision now is he?" She waited for him to shake his head before continuing, "So can you please just give me an interview?"

"Fine, sit." She sat.

"Thank you Milton," the man in a beanie sitting across from her narrowed his eyes, "Miller."

Clarke raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"My name. It's Miller."

"Oh-" she was cut off by Maya laughing from where she was fixing the couch cushions a few feet away, "Milton, that's a good one. Suits you."

"Shut up Maya," Miller snarled defensively, "So Miss Griffin, where did you grow u-"

Miller was cut off mid sentence by the front door of the penthouse slamming open and before Clarke could get annoyed at the interruption a beautiful man entered the penthouse, he wore a v-neck sweater, jeans, and his hair was in unruly, messy curls that Clarke immediately wanted to run her fingers through, "I've just bought it people!"

Miller leaped from his seat across from her and jogged to Mr. Blake, looking at the engagement ring in excitement beside Maya. They talked in excited quiet tones as they looked at the shiny expensive diamonds. Clarke stayed seated and cleared her throat when it got too awkward, Mr. Blake looked up at her, brown eyes meeting blue, "Miller, who's this?" He asked slowly, never taking his eyes away.

"Someone who was just leaving," Miller declared, but Clarke sat up and stepped forward, pushing Miller back and took the man's hand firmly in her own, "Clarke Griffin, hopefully your new chef."

Mr. Blake looked at her thoughtfully, ignoring Miller's hisses in protest, "What can you cook?"

"Well that depends on what you feel like eating tonight?" Clarke ignored the way a shadow of a smirk appeared on his face.

"Turkey Club?" He suggested hopefully.

Clarke smiled, "Too easy," she turned and moved into the kitchen to begin preparing the meal, surprised at how she already felt like she was at home in this kitchen.

It took ten minutes, and before she knew it, she was setting a plate down in front of her -possibly- future boss. Miller and Maya were crowded around him, watching as he took the first bite and moaned in appreciation. Clarke had to look away to hide the way the moan made her heart leap in her chest. Mr. Blake finished chewing and smiled at her, "You're hired."

Clarke grinned and ignored Miller's protesting about how Tyler Florence could make the same meal but way better, "Thank you Mr. Blake."

The man laughed, "Just Bellamy is fine," and went back to eating, he motioned to Maya while chewing his second bite and the petite girl jumped into action like she'd been waiting for this cue, grabbing Clarke's wrist and pulling her away from the kitchen and to the front door. Once they were in the hallway, she handed her a paper with directions and her schedule, "Okay so you'll work weekdays and have weekends off, come on time everyday, and please try to keep Bellamy's image perfect, he needs good media attention."

Clarke nodded, "Okay Maya I will, don't worry. Thank you!"

"Now go home and get some rest, you start tomorrow," Clarke could tell Maya was holding back a smile as she waved and watched the elevator doors close behind Clarke.

Clarke drove home like a mad woman, excited to tell Raven the good news, she ran up the stairwell instead of the elevator because she felt like it would be too slow. Once she got to the apartment door, she schooled her face to look heartbroken and opened the door to find her Latina roommate sitting on the couch in her pajamas, yelling at the TV in Spanish, her hair still wet from the shower she just took. Raven paused the TV when she saw her and frowned, "You didn't get the job did you?"

Clarke couldn't hold back a smile anymore, "No I totally did!" Raven jumped up and they both screamed and jumped in circles excitedly.

Raven took the paper from her hands, "Oh my god, that's a shitload of money."

"I know right? It's a pretty awesome job too, and my boss is hot as fuck."

"Clarke," Raven started in her serious yet playful undertone voice, "You can't sleep with your boss, okay? No matter how hot he is. Off limits, okay?"

Clarke sighed, "I know, I just wish he was an ugly old fat person like I expected him to be. Not a 27 year old hottie who's a millionaire because of his talent. I mean I'm 25 and I don't even have 20 bucks to spare."

"Ugh, don't make me depressed, Clarkie. This is great news though, it's a step up from your job sitting on the couch all day and stuffing your face."

Clarke laughed and shoved ER playfully, "It totally is, I'm excited for this step up in my life because so far it's sucked."

"I feel you. Now let's open that celebratory wine bottle we have, okay? Because I might be getting a promotion soon -as you know- and you're a personal chef so we're winning so far at life," Raven spoke happily, going over to the cabinets in the kitchen and rummaging through one until she found the right bottle. Clarke grabbed two glasses and they poured the red wine out very generously. Even through Clarke had work tomorrow, she needed this tonight to forget how nervous she was for tomorrow. She was so goddamn nervous, it felt like her stomach was about to rip through her belly and choke her.

So she sat on the old run down navy blue couch with Raven and binge watched romantic comedy movies until midnight.


	2. Accidents happen?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two! Updates won't be this frequent, I just had it done so why not post it? Hope you enjoy(it's much better than the first chapter)

Clarke woke up to Raven slamming a pillow on her head pretty hard, she groaned and looked up from the pullout couch at her best friend, "What?" the blonde grunted.

"Get up, you have a job remember? You want to be late on your first day?" Raven sighed and watched Clarke mutter a curse as she threw off the blankets and ran from the couch into the Latinas bedroom to get dressed. 

Sadly, they could only afford a one bedroom apartment so Clarke took the couch every night, which she didn't really mind, except when she needed clothes and they were in Raven's room. Raven sighed and began making coffee, listening to Clarke stumbling around the apartment. Once the coffee was done she poured the hot liquid into two travel mugs just as Clarke burst out of the room, she kissed the Latinas cheek, "Thanks babe!" She was halfway out when Raven yelled after her, "Keep it in your pants!" Raven caught a glimpse of her middle finger, laughing at the blonde as she went to her room to get ready for the shop. "So screwed," she muttered.

~*~*~

Clarke was pacing in the elevator on the way up to the penthouse, she was nervous for her first day and knew she was being stupid for being nervous but she couldn't help it. Finally the elevator stopped, and Clarke walked to the door, taking a deep breath. She opened the door and plastered a smile on her face, she took in the scene before her; Maya was cleaning the floor and Miller was typing away vigorously on his tablet on the couch. Miller didn't look up before saying, "You're late."

"Sorry I overslept, won't happen again," Clarke immediately went over to the kitchen and looked at a slip of paper that had Bellamy's order on it. She smiled and began preparing the food, which was easy, two bacon omelettes with american cheese and two stacks of pancakes. While the omelettes were cooking she started on the pancakes and soon the smell of food wafted through the penthouse. Miller even glanced up appreciatively once the smell got really strong, and Maya came over to watch with wide eyes, "Wow, that smells so good."

5 minutes later, the exact time it would take for the smell to travel upstairs, the stairs creaked under footsteps and the last thing Clarke expected to see on that staircase was a woman with dirty blonde hair, sharp facial features, and a ridiculously expensive short robe on. A familiar mop of unruly black curls followed suit, and smiled charmingly at the blonde, "Wow Clarke, that breakfast smells really good."

"Good, my dad always used to say, 'if the smell of breakfast doesn't wake you up in the morning, the rest of your day will suck,'" Clarke smiled at old memories that resurfaced.

The woman attached to Bellamy's hip spoke up, "Boo bear, who's this? The new chef?" It took all Clarke's will not to gag at the pet name.

"Yes dear," Bellamy tucked the woman under his arm, "Clarke this is Echo, my girlfriend. Echo, this is Clarke, our new chef." Now that ring made sense from yesterday.

Clarke ignored the lonely ache in her chest at seeing the two so happy in love, she refused to believe it was because of her feelings for Bellamy, she didn't have any. She went back to cooking and didn't look up until she had finished. She neatly placed the food on two plates with syrup and fruit and set the table for Bellamy and Echo, "There you go, breakfast for two."

She turned off the stove, cleaned up all the surfaces she dirtied and placed a stack of pancakes for both Miller and Maya on the island, she walked over to the two and whispered, "Hey, I made you guys pancakes, come on."

"Food," Miller groaned happily and patted her on the shoulder as he passed, "You're not too bad, Griffin. I'm still going to tease you but... You're not too bad."

Maya just squeezed her hand in thanks as she passed. While everyone was eating, she sighed and looked at all the food in this house, there wasn't that much at all, at least not enough to make actual meals with. Clarke turned to Bellamy right as Echo leaped up from her seat, checking the time on her rose gold watch that was probably worth more than Clarke and Ravens apartment, "Damn baby, I got to go. I'll see you tonight for our date night?"

Bellamy smiled, so wide and large that Clarke's stomach fluttered, "Damn straight baby."

"Bellamy, you know I don't like that language," Echo scolded and Clarke looked away to hide her confused expression.

Didn't she just used the same word before. Legit a sentence before.

"I'm sorry," Bellamy said sincerely, kissing her softly. She headed upstairs to get dressed and Bellamy waited at the bottom of the stairs for 30 minutes until she came down in all designer clothes. He kissed her goodbye and walked her to the door, making sure she got to the elevator safely. Echo didn't deserve a man like Bellamy, he was too kind and too caring. Miller walked up beside her to place his plate in the sink, "Careful, you might pop a blood vessel from all that glaring."

Clarke schooled her expression, not realizing how much she was glaring at the door Bellamy hadn't come back through yet. "I'm sorry, it's just-" she paused, looking at Miller, "what does he see in her?"

"We don't know," Maya said, joining the conversation, "She's a stuck up bitch though, isn't she?"

"The biggest," Clarke said.

"The devil," Miller added.

The three hummed in agreement and Clarke smiled, she was already fitting in and she loved it. At that moment, the door opened and Bellamy came in, the three split up fast, Clarke going to do the dishes, Maya going upstairs to clean the bedroom, and Miller going back to typing on that tablet.

"Oh hey Clarke?" Bellamy asked. 

Clarke looked up, watching him come up to the counter and raised a brow in reply, he handed her a black credit card. She stared at it and gasped, "A Black Amex card?"

"Yup," Bellamy said, popping the 'p,' "I'm proposing to Echo tonight, this is the big dinner, basically screw this up and you're fired. This card is yours to buy groceries, got it?" He sounded playful while he threatened her and she was getting mixed signals.

"Uhm okay. I promise I will blow you away," Clarke stated with a salute.

Miller spoke without looking up again, "That's what she said."

Bellamy laughed and shook his head, Clarke avoided his eyes, hiding her blush, "Clarke, you have the rest of the day to prepare for tonight, be here by 3 o'clock pm, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," she was feeling pressure now, she grabbed the credit card and her purse and left.

~*~*~ 

It was 2 pm by the time Clarke got to her apartment, leaving her groceries in the car because she was changing then leaving to go make a dinner for that ungrateful rich bitch and Bellamy. It took her hours to shop because she didn't know what she was going to make and had to wing it, then she had an idea and had to buy more things and eventually it piled up. She opened the door, to find Raven tinkering with a scrap of metal or something on the couch, "Hey Rae."

"Wow, you look exhausted, that bad?" Raven set aside her metal and stood up, peering at Clarke with a concerned frown.

"No, it was fine, it just got harder, that's all. I have to cook a meal for Bellamy and his girlfriend because he's going to propose," Clarke huffed, collapsing into the couch.

"Well shit, that's huge! How much do the groceries cost? We need to know because that will cost us a lot."

"First of all, his girlfriend is stupid rich and basically a total bitch and second..." Clarke sat up and looked momentarily excited, "He gave me this for the cost." She held up the Black Amex.

"Oh my dear god," Raven exclaimed, "Damn he's richer than I thought."

Clarke smiled with a wink, "Yeah he is." She took the card from Raven and went to change into a better outfit other than jeans and a blouse. She came out wearing a black pencil skirt and a lilac blouse.

Raven whistled when she saw her,  
"Damn Blondie, you look hot."

"Why thank you, now I have to go before I'm late. It's important, I can't fail this," she said nervously.

Raven smirked, "You'll be fine! Remember he has a girlfriend, keep it in your pants."

Clarke flipped her off again and slammed a pillow on her head as she left, ignoring Raven's hysterical laughing and headed to Bellamy's apartment. 

She brought up the dozen bags of groceries alone in one trip, finding the downstairs of the penthouse empty. Just as she is beginning to put the groceries away, Bellamy comes down the stairs in a suit and suddenly she feels like she can't keep herself under control. Men and suits are her weak point, they always just look so hot, she crossed her legs where she's standing to remind herself he's her boss AND about to propose to his girlfriend. "What do you think?" He asked her.

She grinned, "Handsome, Echo won't know what's coming."

She started to put the groceries away again, Bellamy came over and wordlessly started to help her and they worked in an unpracticed harmony. Clarke smiled once the groceries are away and began to prepare the two hour three course meal. Bellamy hovered awkwardly and silently for the first 30 minutes before going upstairs to occupy his mind. She could tell he's nervous for this big step he's taking tonight.

After two hours, Clarke finished setting the table and setting out the food. Bellamy came downstairs just as she was placing flowers in a vace, "Wow."

"It's okay?" Clarke asked him, frowning.

"It's beautiful, she's so going to say yes!" Bellamy smiled at her, "Thank you so much."

"My pleasure, I live to serve you after all," Clarke teased with a laugh.

Bellamy frowned and opened his mouth to speak when his phone rang and cut him off. He went to answer it in his office and Clarke turned back to the table and fixed some things. Bellamy came out looking miserable, his hand still clenched around his phone, "Echo's not coming."

"Oh, that's okay, we can just package all this up and save it for another time," Clarke assured him.

Bellamy ran a hand through his curls, "No, she- uh- she broke up with me."

"What? I'm so sorry," Clarke placed a hand on his shoulder, watching him sit in front of the set table. He shrugged and didn't reply.

After a few silent moments, Bellamy sat up, an idea seeming to have formed in his head, "How about we take this meal and eat on the terrace?"

"Uh, I don't know..." Clarke thought over the worst that could happen and shrugged when she couldn't think of anything, "Sure."

And so there they were 10 minutes later, eating food and talking about how weird Miller and Maya were but how good they were at their jobs. Bellamy finally changed topics, "You really are a good cook, Clarke."

"Thank you," Clarke blushed, "I love your house."

Bellamy smiled and nodded happily, "I like to think of it as a palace from Roman Mythology. Not that I think of myself as a God, more like someone who worked to achieve the unbelievable, kind of like a god."

"Wow that's quite the statement, Bellamy," Clarke smiled and Bellamy went off about Mythology and how he loved it, how he knew every story by heart, every creature and being, it should have bored her but honestly seeing his eyes light up as he talked about it made her want to hear more. She didn't stop him as he kept telling her stories long after they were done eating and had two cups of wine and were cleaning up the dishes in the kitchen.

"I love how much you love these stories, I can see it in your eyes," Clarke said.

Bellamy smiled, "My sister, Octavia, loved to hear those stories when she was a kid. She would make me read to her, we had a copy of the Iliad but it burned in a house fire years ago. My success is because of those stories, I love them because it reminds me of my mother." His smile shrunk into a fond smile, like he was remembering his mother.

Clarke didn't need to ask to know that his mother died, "How did she die? If you don't mind me asking."

"Breast cancer, believe it or not she refused to go to the doctors, it would have taken all the money we saved up for O's college. I worked three jobs to keep us afloat so that was adding to it, but she still refused treatment. She was such a stubborn mule, O got it from her," Bellamy looked like he was going to cry and laugh all at once so she placed her hand comfortingly on his. He smiled, "What about you, how did you become a chef?"

"Well I grew up cooking with my dad, my mom was a surgeon and was never around so my dad always fed me. He was my rock, he took care of me the most, he taught me how to cook, along with Julia Child. God he loved Julia Child. I fell in love with cooking when he took a bite out of my first homemade clam chowder and he smiled at me and said, 'You're the next Julia Child.' That was the last day I saw him, he died that night in a car accident. Drunk driver," Clarke smiled through watery eyes, it was the first time she had ever really told someone about him in that depth.

Bellamy smiled sadly at her and raised a whole new bottle of wine, "Let's drink this on the couch and toast to them, yeah?"

Clarke didn't think much of it, "Yeah, let's do it. What's the worst that could happen?"

That's really all she remembered.

Because when she opened her eyes the next morning, she was naked beside a naked Bellamy in his bed upstairs with a pounding headache and a sore body.


	3. Not My Day

Clarke opened her eyes expecting to be on the pullout couch in her apartment, but instead she was naked in Bellamy Blake's bed next to the man himself. She shook her head, convincing herself that it's just a dream (a really good dream) until Bellamy rolled over in his sleep and she gets a good view of the incredible muscle detail on his chest that even her mind couldn't conjure up. Clarke panicked at the realization that this was indeed very real, she did sleep with her boss and scrambled out of the bed, putting on her bra and underwear in a hurry. She was gathering up her clothes when she heard someone shout from downstairs, "Boo bear?"

Bellamy stirred and Clarke froze, watching as his eyes opened and landed on her half naked form, widening as realization dawned on him, "Oh shit. Did we-?"

"Yeah," Clarke swallowed, "We definitely did."

"You're sure?" Bellamy asked.

Before she could answer, Echo called again, closer, "Hey Boo bear?" Bellamy's eyes widened and he leapt from the bed, Clarke tried to look away from his naked body but sue her for being curious. He slipped on boxer briefs and herded her and her armful of clothes into his walk-in closet, "I'll be right back."

She stayed locked in that closet for 2 fucking hours, getting dressed in last nights clothes and plugging her ears because of Echo's screams from her and Bellamy's make-up sex. 

Finally, when the door opened and Bellamy stood in the doorway with his hair ruffled and lips swollen, she felt a painful jab because God, he looked so happy. "She's in the shower, you have a chance," he explained softly.

Clarke had spent the time in the closet thinking about how Bellamy was going to fire her now. Especially because Echo came back and it would be too messy if she stayed, "Okay, let me just get my chef knifes and I'll go."

"Woah, woah, woah," he held his hand out from letting her pass, "I'm not firing you, Clarke. I'm not going to punish you because I fucked up."

Clarke shook her head, "We both did and are you sure?"

"Positive, you're the best chef I've ever had, okay?" Bellamy smiles.

Clarke ignores the praise and stays focused on her job, also ignoring the bitter taste the next words have in her mouth, "Don't worry, we had no feelings attached so it shouldn't get in the way of our work. We can just forget about it, right?"

"Right, that's absolutely correct."

Clarke sighed, clearing her throat, "So since it's Friday, I was wondering what you wanted for breakfast?"

"Hmm, I think waffles with strawberries will be just fine, yeah?" Bellamy asked, backing up to let her pass.

She walked by and nodded, "Coming right up."

In the midst of her cooking, Miller came in from the office, "Oh why hello there Clarke, did you have a nice night?" Clarke looked up and examined the sparkle in his eyes, the way the smirk on his face looks too gleeful, "You know." She states blandly.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Clarke scoffed, "Yes you do Miller, go ahead make fun of me."

"Clarke," Miller laughed, "I will make fun of you all I want but not about this, not when you got Bellamy first and you even have boobs."

Clarke looked at the man in the beanie, blinking at the weirdness of the conversation, "Isn't Bellamy straight?"

"Yes he is, can't a man dream though?" Miller countered.

Clarke smiled at him sweetly and continued cooking all the while talking to Miller about hot celebrities.

The rest of the day, Clarke did all she could to avoid Bellamy and the remorseful stares that he kept giving her whenever she caught his eye.

~*~*~ 

Clarke got home that night at 7:00 and found Raven pacing around the room, she flew at Clarke once she walked in and hugged her tight, "Where the hell were you?"

"Well, uh, funny story," Clarke laughed humorlessly, "Echo, Bellamy's girlfriend, dumped him before he was about to propose and I didn't want him to be alone so we ate the food I prepared for him to propose and drank the wine," she ignored Raven's disapproving grunt, "And I kinda, sorta slept with him?"

"You what?!" Raven screamed at her, "Please tell me you're joking."

"I wish I was."

"Fuck Clarke, what did he say?"

Clarke sighed, "Well he told me not to worry, I still have a job and there's not feelings attached so we can just forget about it and move on."

"You're kidding, right?" Raven exclaimed.

"I wish I was," Clarke repeated, "It's not going to go anywhere anyway."

Raven raised her eyebrow and smirked, "Do you want it to?"

Clarke was silent for a minute and shook her head, "No, no, no, it can't go anywhere, he's my boss, I'm his employee. We have to be strictly professional."

"Yeah okay, Griffin," Raven rolls her eyes, "Once you let it out of your pants, you can't ever put it away. You know that right?"

"Shut up Raven, seriously I know how to be professional, or at least sober me does."

Raven smirked, "Drunk you always seems to get the guy, it's not really fair." Raven hesitates, "But seriously, do you remember anything?"

"About the sex?" Clarke questions.

Raven rolls her eyes, "Of course. Was it good?"

"Raven..." Raven pouts at the blondes hesitance, "Please Clarke?"

"No I don't remember anything but the soreness was a pretty good indication."

Raven grins and nods, "At least you got laid... It's been years since Lexa."

Clarke pulls Raven down to sit beside her on the couch, eager to change the subject, "So Rae, who's that guy you keep mumbling and groaning about?"

"Wick? Oh he's just an annoying asshole, don't you worry. You, Jasper and Monty will hate him."

"Oh I bet," Clarke smirked, knowing that Raven never let guys get to her unless she really liked them, she was that all knowing best friend that knew Reyes better than Reyes knew herself.

Raven looked at her expression, "No I'm serious, Clarke, he's really fucking annoying."

"Hey," Clarke put her hands up in defeat, "Whatever, I just want to meet this guy, he sounds super interesting. Any guy who can push your buttons is a guy I want to meet."

"Shut up!"

Clarke couldn't wipe the smile on her face for the rest of the night, Raven's blushing still burned into her mind.

~*~*~ 

Clarke arrived Monday morning on time to work, having spent the weekend binge watching Netflix with Raven and occasionally Jasper and Monty too. She expected everyone to be up and about, instead she finds the downstairs empty, "Alright, I'll just get started on breakfast then." She muttered to herself, crossing the living room to the countertop, placing the bags of groceries she carried in on the marble.

Clarke bought enough breakfast for omelettes and assumed she will have to make two because Echo was probably upstairs with her face pressed up against the smooth skin of his chest and running her fingers through his curls and- No, she can't do this to herself, it's better if she forgets about it and pretends it never happens. How does she do that exactly?

For a while, she worked in silence, at least 15 minutes before the door slammed open and Maya came rushing in with arms full of shopping bags, she stopped when she saw Clarke, "Oh hey, I didn't expect to see you here."

"Expected me to be fired?" Clarke assumed, not missing the way the petite girl's eyes look guiltily at the floor, "Don't worry, I don't know why he wouldn't want me gone but apparently he likes the food and wants me to stay."

Maya sighed, "Men are so weird." Clarke nodded in agreement before Maya continued, "Okay so I bought a bunch of-" she was cut off by Miller running in, "Guys, guys, guys!"

This was the most excited Millers ever been, Clarke had never seen him without a scowl or a impassive expression on. Maya is the one who spoke first, "Well say it, then, don't look all excited and then not say it, you idiot."

Clarke smiled at the two, thinking about asking how long they've worked here before Miller spoke, making her forget the question, "Okay, so Bellamy is about to-" he was cut off by a scream. A happy scream.

A scream that was followed by quick footsteps and laughter. A scream that belonged to Echo, she stopped at the bottom of the stairs, "Look who's engaged bitches." She was followed by Bellamy and Clarke smiled at his happy grin, while pushing down the ache she felt in her heart and the bitterness that being alone always welcomed.

~*~*~

That afternoon she got out of work early(mostly because Bellamy took Echo out for dinner and a movie to celebrate, which the Echo thought was stupid) so she went to visit Raven at work. Once she stepped into the lab station set up inside a downtown mechanics repair shop owned by Sinclair, it was like stepping into a new world hidden inside a run-down old one. It was made to look like a modern industrial type of building.

Raven was too busy to notice her but a blonde guy did and walked up, "Hey, I'm Wick, you must be Clarke? The roommate?"

"Oh yeah that's me. I've heard a lot about you Wick, it's nice to finally meet you."

Wick grinned, "Probably not good things."

Clarke shrugged and smirked, "You would be surprised how much Raven hides her emotions under insults, just keep pushing her and you'll be fine."

"Noted," Wick grinned and looked at Raven, "Hey Reyes," he called, "You have a visitor."

Raven looked up and smiled at Clarke, walking over, "You bothering my roommate Wick?"

"Nope," he grinned, "Just talking about how you must like blondes."

Raven snorted, "Yeah right buddy, Clarke's an exception, keep on dreaming."

Wick leaned down and whispered into Raven's ear loud enough so Clarke could here, "I plan to." Clarke ignored the way Raven's cheeks reddened and goosebumps rose up on her arms. Clarke stuck around for an hour waiting for Raven, watching the two bicker and joke and yell, all with stupid smiles on their faces. She couldn't help but wish she had someone like that in her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos and comments, tell me what you think. Hearing how involved you are keeps me writing to entertain you more.


	4. Life in the Penthouse

Clarke's cooking Bellamy's favorite lunch (steak, potatoes, and green beans) Tuesday afternoon - a full week after the engagement - when there's 3 loud bangs on the front door. Clarke jumps and almost tosses the steak off the stovetop grill. She grabbed her biggest chef knife and slowly made her way over to the door. She thought about calling Bellamy in from his office down the hall but thinks better of it, she doesn't need him to think she's weak. She slowly reached out to grab the handle and turned it, opening it a crack to peak through.

"You going to let me into your fuckbud- I mean boss's lovely _expensive_ home?" Raven asked with a smirk on her face, clearly enjoying the dig at her blonde best friend.

Clarke sighed in relief, "Oh my god Raven, don't scare me like that. Why would you bang on rich people's door?"

Raven pushed passed Clarke, ignoring her and opened the door harshly, sending the blonde stumbling backwards. "Damn," she breathed, "This place is freaking huge!"

"Yeah." Clarke went back to the steak - now sizzling - and flipped it, looking up at Raven, "Why are you here Rae?"

"Oh, right." Raven took a seat at the island counter across from Clarke and placed a brown paper bag in front of her, "You forgot your lunch."

Clarke stopped and stared at it incredulously, "You're kidding?"

"What? I was being a considerate friend!"

"No, Raven, you're well aware I get lunch here after I cook for Blake and I know you're only here with a false excuse just so you can see the place I work at and the person I work for."

Raven just shrugged, "Well yes to everything you said **and** Sinclair gave me the day off so I'm bored too. Plus, you seem so lonely. Isn't there other people you work with, Milton and Mildred?"

"Miller and Maya, and yes but they are busy doing their own jobs unlike me because you stormed in here and distracted me," Clarke said with a small smile, checking on the boiling green beans.

"Poor thing, I guess I can keep you company then Clarkie. I have nothing else to do."

Clarke looked at her, "Good, then you can help me with the potatoes. Take that masher and mash them up. Careful though, they're hot." Raven saluted her and hopped off her seat, coming around to Clarke's side of the counter and doing exactly as directed. Which was one of the great things about Raven, she knew how to follow directions and worked hard when assigned a task.

"So," Raven said mid-mash, "Where's this Hottie Boss you have?"

Clarke glared sideways at Raven, stirring the green beans, "In his office with Miller, probably discussing really important business stuff."

As Clarke is straining the hot water from the green beans in the sink, she hears hurried footsteps coming down the hallway. Miller ran through the open concept living room to the counter, "Clarke," he said as he caught himself with both hands slamming down on the countertop, "Can you make the cake for the wedding?"

"Yes, of course I can, when do you need it made by?" Clarke asked, pouring the beans back into the pot.

"Two weeks from now?" Clarke almost dropped the pot and Raven stopped mashing, staring up at Miller, "You're kidding?"

"No." He directs at Raven, then turns to Clarke, blinking, "Clarke, who is this?"

Clarke finished with the beans and moved on to finish with the steak before she replied, "Miller, meet my roommate Raven, Raven this is Miller."

Raven smiled and reached out, shaking Millers hand, "Nice to meet you."

"Same to you. So Clarke, can you or can you not?" Miller asked, not missing a beat.

Clarke nodded, "Yes, yeah I'll do it. Did they move the wedding up? I thought it was supposed to be in 5 months."

"Me too but apparently Echo wants it sooner, and Bellamy lives to please that woman," Miller grumbled.

Raven finishes mashing the potatoes and slides the pot over to Clarke, "How did they meet exactly?"

"Through Echo's father, Bellamy was at some kind of fundraiser with him and he introduced them. Bellamy didn't make the first move towards a relationship, Echo did." Before either Clarke or Raven could ask how, he continued, "She sponsored his app organization and helped him get a million more dollars. She basically made him have to feel obligated to say yes when she asked him to go out with her."

Raven looked from Miller to Clarke, "Damn she's a schemer, huh?"

"Sounds like it to me," Clarke agreed solemnly, finishing off the steak and putting a nice portion of green beans and potatoes on the plate. She looked at Miller and Raven, "Before you dig in, call Bellamy and Maya out here so we can all eat."

Miller nodded, "Got it!" he said before he ran back to Bellamy's office.

"You work with interesting people," Raven mused, and Clarke grumbled her agreement before screaming Maya's name up the stairs.

Maya came down in a hurry, "Ooh it's lunch time!" She stopped short when she saw Raven, "Oh hello."

"Sup?" Raven said, leaning against the counter, "I'm Raven, Clarkie's roommate."

Maya grinned, "Oh yeah, I've heard some things about you, I'm Maya."

"What things?" Raven directed her question towards Clarke but she wasn't paying attention, she was watching Bellamy walk in behind Miller. Raven gasped, her previous question forgotten and whispered in the blondes ear, "I suddenly don't blame you for sleeping with him. Damn Griff, he's a hottie."

Bellamy looked at Raven and smiled, "Hello, I'm Bellamy, who are you?"

Clarke handed him his plate and he sat down to eat at the island, eyes trained on Raven for an explanation. "Raven, I'm Clarke's roommate," she held out her hand and Bellamy gladly shook it.

"Ah I've heard about you," Bellamy said with a chuckle, Raven frowned and looked at Clarke with a raised brow, "So I've heard."

Clarke ignored Raven and Bellamy was quick to change the subject, "So I assume Miller told you about the cake?" Miller looked up from where he was grabbing himself a plate beside Maya, looking a little apprehensive.

"He did. Don't worry Bellamy, I'd love to make your wedding cake."

Both Miller and Bellamy looked relieved, "With Echo moving up the wedding date, it's just, it really is a huge adjustment and it is really crazy and I don't know how I'm going to do this."

"Bellamy," she waited for the man to look up, "You are a smart man, I'm sure you'll be fine. Plus you're a family type man so that has to account for something, right?"

Miller nodded, "Totally," his mouth was full of steak when he said it and Raven looked over at him before muttering, "Pig."

Miller gawked at her and Maya laughed, "I like your roommate Clarke, she's fiery."

"Yeah, sometimes it's really bad, like when you bring her along for a job interview and she goes to park the car and comes inside cussing and screaming in Spanish," Clarke said with a hint of a smile.

Raven smacked her arm, "Bitch that was one time!"

Clarke shrugged and smiled at her Latina friend, missing the soft smile Bellamy was looking at her with for a moment before he schooled his expression. Bellamy was just about finished with lunch when his phone rang, he slipped it out of his pocket and looked at the screen, "Excuse me a moment, Echo's calling."

The four watched him sprint from the room and into his study, Miller sighed, "He'll be in there for at least an hour. Echo is trying to find a good venue."

"This is going to be a long two weeks," Clarke stated miserably.

The other three grumbled their agreement as Clarke took his almost empty plate, emptying the leftover bits of food into the trash before rinsing the porcelain and placing it in the dishwasher. She ate after everyone else did and Raven was going to wait with her apparently, the brunette hadn't made a move towards the steaming food yet.

"Okay," Maya said, she had been staring at her plate like it bit her, "Does anyone else feel like Bellamy doesn't deserve this?"

"I sure as hell do," said a new voice from behind them, Miller leaped off his seat in surprise and Maya screamed with her teeth clamped shut. Clarke startled but was able to hide it under the guise of looking up abruptly, Raven went for one of her chef knifes and Clarke smacked her hand away to stop her.

Standing in the doorway was a young woman with keys in one hand and suitcase in the other. She had a rugged look to her, kind of like she just came from a overnight hike in the woods. Not to mention that her dark hair and strong cheekbone and extremely strong jawline game reminded Clarke of Bellamy.

"Octavia?" Miller asked with a hint of a smile on his face, crossing the room to hug the woman, "I thought you were hiking the Himalayas with Lincoln?"

Octavia? The Octavia? The one Bellamy talked about the night they- yeah her, the one Bellamy took care of after his mother died. Clarke was swept out of her thoughts by Octavia's answer to Miller, "Well my plans changed when on my way down the mountain, I got a notification on my walkie that my big brother was engaged. When I found out to who, I got on a plane as fast as I could."

Raven leaned over and whispered to Clarke, "Damn, she's quite the personality."

"Shut up," Clarke told her as Octavia continued, "Lincoln's staying there for a few more days to pack up the rest of our stuff."

That moment, Octavia made eye contact with Clarke and raised her perfect eyebrow, "Who are you?"

"That's Bellamy's new chef and her roommate," Maya explained as Octavia crossed the room to the two behind the counter, looking intimidating in her leather jacket and combat boots. Once she stopped in front of them, a smile broke across her face and she held out her hand, "I'm Octavia Blake, nice to meet you."

Clarke took the hand without hesitation, "Clarke Griffin, and this is Raven Reyes."

Octavia surveyed the two and sat down, eyeing the food hungrily, "Is that steak?"

"Would you like a plate?" Clarke offered kindly, "It's still warm."

Octavia's eyes brightened and she nodded, "That would be great actually, thank you."

Clarke waved her appreciation away and began to make the young brunette's plate, setting it in front of her with a fork. Octavia began eating hungrily, kind of like a wild animal. She paused with her fork to her lips, "Where is my stupid brother anyway?"

"On the phone with Echo," Maya answered as she and Miller went back to their meals, all eating beside the Blake sister.

Octavia gagged and shook her head, "When he comes out, I'm going to kill him. I mean, I've only met the bitch once and I hate her so much. I leave for 3 months and come back and he's getting married? Reckless, totally unlike him."

"Uhm," Clarke said sharing a nervous look with Raven before waiting for Octavia to look up at her, "You know about the date change right?"

"What date change?" Octavia's eyes narrowed.

Raven fiddled with the spatula she was holding as she spoke, not making eye contact with Octavia, "They apparently moved it two weeks from now."

Miller and Maya winced at the anger that flashed across Octavia's face, "What!" She nearly shouted, stabbing her fork into her meat.

"Yeah, we just thought you should know," Raven said warily, Octavia noticed and looked at all of their wary faces before she calmed down and picked up the fork, "Thank you, I'll wait until Bell's off the phone then I'll kick his ass."

They all continued eating in a cautioned silence, suddenly Raven burst out laughing and everyone looked at her, "What?" Clarke asked.

"I just can't wait for the Blake sibling fight, I have a feeling it'll be intense."

Octavia grinned at that and nodded, going back to eating.

While Miller and Maya were scraping the small remanence of food off their plates into the trash and rinsing them off in the sink, footsteps echo down the hallway from Bellamy's office. Octavia swings her chair around so quickly, she gives Clarke whiplash just watching her. Bellamy enters and freezes when he sees his sister, he turns, trying to escape back down the hallway but Octavia launches out of her seat at the counter, vaults over the couch and grabs his ear, dragging him to the couch while he protests. Miller and Maya take it as their cue to leave, Maya upstairs and Miller into the office. Octavia forces Bellamy to sit down on the couch and takes a deep breath, "What are you doing Bellamy?" Her voice is quiet and soft, eliciting a guilty expression from the older Blake. The younger Blake knows that yelling will get this conversation no where.

"I'm getting married soon, that's what I'm doing O," Bellamy says confidently.

"No Bell," Octavia shakes her head, "You're signing away your freedom to a psycho."

"She's not a psycho," Bellamy defends.

Octavia sighs, "Bellamy, she's a rich bitch, if this was back when you were in your early 20s, she would want nothing to do you you."

Bellamy opens his mouth to object but closes it, silence ensues for a moment before he opens his mouth again, "I love her, O," he tells her softly.

Octavia sits down beside him and wraps an arm around his shoulders, "I know you do," she rests her head on his shoulder, "I just think this is moving too fast for you."

"Who's the older sibling here? O, I can take care of myself, okay?"

Octavia nodded and stood up, Bellamy frowned at the loss of contact, "Well guess I'll have to move in for two weeks."

"How did you even get here?" Bellamy asked her, accepting the fact she was moving in and knowing there was no point in arguing.

Octavia smiled, "I bought a plane ticket and flew here."

"You left your husband there?" Bellamy smiled, laughing a bit.

"Yeah, he'll be down in a few days."

Raven gawked at the two, "Woah, hold on a second, so you two just talked it out, just like that? There was no screaming, no cursing, no nothing? I was expecting this to be disastrous with the way Octavia was acting but she's moving in with her husband and everything's fine now?"

Clarke let the silence hang for a minute before she couldn't take it and burst out laughing, laughing so hard that she doubled over behind the counter. She was the only one who missed the fond expression that crossed Bellamy's face at her laughter, the way his smile widened and eyes brightened. Octavia gave her brother a curious sideways look and her and Raven's eyes met, Octavia was asking a silent question and Raven mouthed, _"I'll explain later."_ Octavia nodded to the Latina and looked at her brother's face again, deciding that this was the expression he was supposed to be wearing when he was looking at Echo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this Chapter was a filler, life's about to pick up Chapter 5, I promise.  
> I'm thinking about putting Chapter 5 and 6 together because 5 is kind of like this one and I don't want to bore you ;D.
> 
> Anyway, tell me what you think.


	5. The Birthday

Clarke came through the penthouse door Thursday morning, just two days after Octavia moved in (which have been more than entertaining, to say the least). She's about to head into the kitchen when she sees Octavia laying on the counter groaning to Maya, who's standing over her and nodding along to whatever the brunette's telling the petite girl. Maya turned around when she heard Clarke come in, "Hey Clarke." Octavia just gave her a little wave and a brief half-hearted smile.

Clarke walked up to the two, placing the groceries she bought last night on the counter beside Octavia "What's going on here?"

"Well," Maya looked from the blonde to the grumbling brunette, "Echo's just pissing Octavia off."

Clarke chuckled at that, "Spill it Octavia."

Octavia and Echo don't see eye to eye when it came to Bellamy, so Clarke was expecting it to be something about how Bellamy needs a haircut or how he needs to wear more of this or that, etc. She wasn't expecting it to be personally about Octavia, "That bitch said that Lincoln can't come, she told me straight up when Bell wasn't there, then I confronted Bell and he said he can come, we asked her together and she said that she said he could come, not that he couldn't. She lied right to my face!"

"Did Bellamy believe her?" Clarke asked, patting her arm softly.

"Yeah," Octavia groaned, "Sadly he's in that stage where he wants everything to be perfect and her to be perfect in his eyes so he's purposely ignoring the negative things about her."

Maya sighed and shook her head, "Men are stupid."

Both Clarke and Octavia agreed with that statement. "Octavia that happened this morning?"

Octavia looked at her, raising an eyebrow, "Yeah, why?"

"Shit," Clarke leaped off the counter and pulled Octavia down into a chair at the island counter, "If I don't have her food ready, she's going to be pissed."

Octavia sighed, "I'll get the coffee started." She paused before adding, "Sometimes I wish it were easy being around rich people, Bell and I were never born in this type of world and we're still figuring it out. I just wish he'd wait before permanently sticking us in this world."

Clarke reached over and grabbed Octavia's hand comfortingly, "It'll all be okay. If anything goes badly, you can crash with Raven and I."

"Oh!" Octavia said suddenly, startling Clarke a bit, "I was supposed to call Raven this morning, is she at work yet?"

"No... She doesn't have to go in until 11:00 today," Clarke said with a confused expression, what the hell did she have to talk to Raven about? Clarke looked at Maya, who was busily cleaning of the countertop for when breakfast was ready and avoiding Clarke's eyes, she knew something too. Octavia skipped off with her phone in hand out the front door and into the hallway outside the penthouse just as Miller came out of the office yelling into his earpiece, "No sir, I want light pink napkins! Yes that color, no the one before that, yes those! They better be here in two days or I'm not paying for them!"

Clarke stared at Miller in surprise, it was the first time he's ever lost his calm, collected behavior, it actually scared her a bit. Miller slumped down in a seat and grumbled, "Stupid wedding planning."

"Sorry you're stuck with the planning all all by yourself, Miller," Maya told him sadly, watching Clarke as she began to prepare everyone omelettes.

Miller sighed, "Bellamy said he was going to help but Echo forbade him to, she said, and I quote, 'Isn't this the reason you pay these people that work for you?' I hate her, if Bellamy actually marries her, I'm going to quit."

"Fuck her," Clarke said as she finished one omelette, her hands able to do it quickly like it was muscle memory, "She doesn't deserve anything she's got."

Both Miller and Maya stare at her, completely caught off guard by how much anger is evident in her voice. She covered it up by clearing her throat and placing the omelette on a plate and setting it in front of Miller, silence hung over the room all throughout the second omelette until Clarke set the plate in front of Maya, "Sorry, it's just frustrating."

"What is?" Miller asked her with a suggestive smile, making Clarke wonder if there's really something going on she doesn't know about.

Clarke just shook her head and muttered so they could only hear, "Echo being a snob and it's frustrating because I can't do anything about it because I'll get fired."

Maya smiled reassuringly at her and they both dug in while Clarke prepared Octavia's omelette, Miller finished eating at the same time Octavia's omelette was done cooking and hurried off into Bellamy's office to plan more wedding details, Maya stayed to talk to her about how to make an omelette. She took her through step by step until the ceiling creaked under tired footsteps upstairs, by the time Bellamy and Echo came into view, both looking really tired, she had shown Maya how to make two omelettes. Clarke noticed how Echo was all dressed up and Bellamy wasn't, "Oh," the rich woman said, looking at the two omelettes, "Sorry I'm not staying for _this_ food. I'm going out to eat with my parents, the food there is to die for." 

Bellamy smiled at Echo when she looked at him(completely missing the way Clarke's lips clenched together at the sly insult) and kissed her goodbye before he stumbled over to the island counter and plopped himself down, taking a bite and smiling at Clarke, "Damn Echo is missing out, this is really good Clarke, thank you."

The anger melted off her face, "You're welcome Bellamy."

Maya smiled at her with a slight smirk, something she really found unnerving. Octavia chose that moment to walk in, sitting down beside her brother and eating, her eyes had a different light to them, like she was seeing something she hadn't really seen before. Bellamy seemed to notice it to because he looked at his sister, "What the hell is up with everyone today? Does this have to do with my birthday tomorrow?"

Clarke stopped cleaning the pan she was scrubbing in the sink, "What?" She went to turn around and sprayed herself with the soapy water, "Agh."

What she didn't realize was that 1. She chipped a plate in the sink with the pan she'd been cleaning and 2. Bellamy was staring at the suds dripping down into her cleavage that the button up she wore revealed. Octavia and Maya noticed. Yeah, they definitely noticed the way Bellamy stared at Clarke, not like a man ogles a striper, more like how even when she's covered in suds and her hairs sticking to her face, she's still beautiful to him. Bellamy noticed them looking at him and cleared his throat, "Clarke, why don't you take the rest of the day off? Echo and I have a meeting at noon anyway with our venue director so you don't need to be here."

Clarke hesitated, glancing up from her entirely soaked shirt, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Maya said, standing up, "I'll clean all this up, you go take care of yourself, you hot mess."

Clarke laughed and nodded, "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then?" she asked the group, heading towards the door before remembering her phone and turning around, she reached in between Bellamy and Octavia to get it, leaning more on Octavia then Bellamy. She didn't want him to feel uncomfortable.

"Love you," Octavia teased and kissed her on the cheek.

Clarke made a face and shook her head, "Weirdo, but I guess I love you too." What the hell with the sudden affection? She's only known Octavia a few days and yet she already feels like her best friend. What did Raven tell Octavia on the phone?

By the time Clarke got home, her shirt was practically already dry, she marched inside and saw Raven sitting on the couch. Raven jumped when the blonde slammed the door open, yelping helplessly as Clarke launched at her and pinned her to the couch, "What did you tell Octavia?"

Raven, who was looking slightly terrified, burst out laughing and shook her head, "What do you mean?"

"Don't play stupid with me Reyes, she told me she had to call you," Clarke told her.

Raven reached up to tickle Clarke and she fell off the Latina onto the floor, "Sorry Clarke, I'm not going to tell you."

"It was about Bellamy and I, wasn't it?"

Raven shrugged, "I can never tell."

"Fine, then you're coming shopping with me, take time off work."

Raven stared at her, "What? Why?"

"It's Bellamy's birthday tomorrow and I already know what I'm going to get him," Clarke told her with a small smile, "He'll love it."

It only took them 3 long hours(Raven complained the whole time) but they eventually got the gift she had been set on getting.

~*~*~

The next morning, Friday morning to be exact, Bellamy's birthday to be even more exact, Clarke came in with her present all wrapped and tucked under her arm. No one was downstairs so she placed the present on the counter and started on the chocolate chip pancakes, Octavia had texted her telling her those were Bellamy's favorite. Soon after, the woman herself came down the stairs with her own present, "Morning Clarke, how are you?"

"G'morning Octavia, I'm doing fine, thanks," she watched Octavia as she placed the present next to hers and sat at the counter on the chair directly across from Clarke.

When the blonde flipped the pancake, Octavia looked at her, "Bellamy loves his birthday, mom would make chocolate chip pancakes, give him a really meaningful gift, and then we'd go out to dinner at a fast food restaurant. As imperfect as it was, it was perfect."

"That does sound really nice," Clarke smiled and placed the first pancake she finished on a plate in front of Octavia.

Just then Miller and Maya came into the penthouse at the exact same time, "Hey guys," Maya greeted.

"Hello," Clarke and Octavia echoed back, Miller just waved and both Maya and himself placed presents next to hers and Octavia.

She flipped 3 more pancakes, zoning in and out of the conversation going on between the three seated eating pancakes. Miller was talking about a cute guy he saw, Octavia was raving about Lincoln's return possibly being tomorrow, and Maya was explaining how she's still single. Clarke just rolled her eyes and kept glancing at the stairs waiting for the man himself to stumble down the stairs in his pajamas, looking excitedly at the wrapped boxes on his counter. As if on cue, footsteps could be heard on the stairs and exactly as Clarke described, Bellamy came into view. His eyes brightened when they saw the presents but he practically ran to the counter when he saw the pancakes, "Oh my god, these look delicious."

"They are," Miller said through a mouthful, ignoring Maya scolding him for talking with his mouth full, "Happy birthday, Bellamy."

Clarke and Maya repeated the sentence and Octavia hugged him tightly, "Thank you guys."

Bellamy ate them so quickly that Clarke could barely keep up with him, "Jesus, where are you putting all these pancakes?"

"I have a hallow leg," Bellamy joked and Octavia nodded, "It's true."

He finally declared himself done after Echo came in and greeted him with a firm kiss on the lips. He went to get up to put his plate away but Echo took it and handed it to Clarke to clean behind his back. Clarke ignored the way Octavia clenched her fists and washed off his plate herself.

Bellamy smiled, completely unaware of the exchange, "So where's your gift, Echo? I want to open yours first."

"Oh uhm," Clarke raised her eyebrow when Echo looked completely clueless and Clarke couldn't let her get humiliated like this.

Clarke dried her hands on her apron, turned the stove top off and scoffed in a playful tone, "Echo, don't leave him hanging. Bellamy, Echo had me wrap it for you because I'm an expert," Clarke joked and Echo gave her a fake laugh that must have sounded real to Bellamy because he smiled at the two.

"Right," Echo smiled, taking Clarke's gift from the blonde's hand, "Here you go babe."

Bellamy took it and tore the wrapping paper off, he looked up at Echo with a smile, his eyes tearing up, "You got this for me?"

Echo nodded, looking slightly bashful, "Do you like it?"

"Like it? I love it, Echo. I'm going to be honest here: I wasn't sure on this whole marriage thing but I know that the woman who gave me this present is the woman who truly knows my heart. And that is the woman I want to marry," Bellamy told Echo with tears in his eyes, "I love you, baby."

"I love you too, Bell-a-bear."

Miller cleared his throat from beside Octavia and Maya, "Hate to interrupt but what exactly is the gift?"

Bellamy smiled and held it up, it was a copy of the Iliad, a book that Bellamy told Clarke had burned in a fire in his childhood home, a book that Bellamy would always read to Octavia. A book that apparently meant more to him than Clarke originally thought. Octavia squealed when she saw it, "It's been so long since you've read that to me!"

Bellamy opened the rest of the presents, which consisted of a cool bracelet from the Himalayan Mountains from Octavia, the new Apple Watch from Miller, and a soft blanket from Maya. He thanked them all, ignoring the fact that Clarke didn't get him a gift, he must have assumed that her pancakes were a gift.

Her heart ached, it actually hurt to see how freaking happy he was about the gift she gave credit to Echo. He and O ran up the stairs to go read the book, Echo staying behind under the false pretense of picking up the wrapping paper. Miller left to go to Bellamy's office(most likely to plan more of the wedding), and Maya went to go clean the bathroom. Clarke was cleaning the pancake pan when Echo spoke from behind her, "How much do you want?"

"What?"

Echo sighed, "How much for the gift?"

"Oh, you don't need to pay me, it's fine. The look on his face was enough, believe me," Clarke said with false happiness.

Echo pursed her lips, "Okay well then how about we keep this between us, okay?"

Clarke didn't miss the way her eyes glinted darkly at the unspoken threat, and nodded, "Of course." Echo nodded and threw the wrapping paper she was holding on the ground, leaving Clarke to pick it up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's 5... Kind of moving the story along more. Definitely making Bellamy and Clarke more aware of their feelings for one another.
> 
> What do you think Raven told Octavia? I hinted at it a bit.


	6. Aftermath

Echo pursed her lips, "Okay well then how about we keep this between us, okay?"

Clarke didn't miss the way her eyes glinted darkly at the unspoken threat, and nodded, "Of course." Echo nodded and threw the wrapping paper she was holding on the ground, leaving Clarke to pick it up.

Maya came from around the corner while Clarke was bent over picking up the trash, "That book was from you?"

Clarke jumped and straightened, looking back at Maya, "I don't know what you're talking about." Once the trash was picked up, she went back to cleaning the pan.

"Clarke Griffin, don't you dare play stupid with me, I know what I heard," Maya said, standing beside her.

Clarke sighed and looked at her, "So what? You obviously know so why do I have to confirm it?"

"Because you have to admit that book is from you, it's not fair to him if you just keep it bottled up like this," Maya tried to reason but Clarke ignored her, putting the dishes in the dishwasher.

Maya sighed, "Fine okay."

"Maya," Clarke called after her, and once the petite girl turned around, she settled her with a pleading look, "Don't tell anyone, please."

Maya hesitated but nodded, heading towards Bellamy's office where Miller was. She wasn't going to listen to Clarke, people deserved to know that Clarke had sacrificed her gift to Bellamy for Echo to take credit of. Hell, Bellamy deserved to know but she wasn't going to go that far just yet.

Clarke sat down and ate her cold pancakes. Echo came downstairs again at that moment, "Clarke can you make cookies for Bellamy and Octavia? With milk."

Clarke abandoned her pancakes yet again, "Yes of course."

She rolled the dough and placed it on a cookie sheet and popped it into the oven. "They'll be ready in 8-10 minutes." She told Echo, who tapped her fake long nails on the stone countertop impatiently.

"Okay, I'll wait," Echo said simply, and after a beat of silence, "How did you know?"

Clarke looked at her curiously, "How did I know what?"

"That the Iliad was his favorite book?"

"He's always talking about mythology and he told me about how much he used to read that book to Octavia, so I knew I had to get it," Clarke explained.

Echo nodded and they lapsed into silence, silence that went on and on for what seemed like hours until Maya came out and saw Clarke slaving over the kitchen for Echo while the woman pulled out a nail filer and filed her nails.

Finally the oven went off and Clarke let the cookies cool, watching Maya pass by to the back room with a cautious expression. Once they were cool, she piled them on a plate on a serving tray along with two glasses of milk and turned to bring them upstairs but Echo interjected, "I got it." She ripped the tray from her hands and marched up the stairs.

"What a bitch," Maya muttered from behind the wall.

"Maya," Clarke groaned, "Go-" she was cut off by a knock at the door, "What the hell?"

Clarke went up to the door, ignoring Maya peeking over her shoulder, and opened it. Standing outside in the hallway is a dark man with gorgeous facial features, "Hello, can I help you?"

The man smiled, "You must be Clarke! I'm Lincoln."

"Oh," Maya said happily, "Octavia's going to freak."

Lincoln smiled and winked at Maya, "I was going to surprise her."

"I'm glad you're here!" Maya told him.

Lincoln looked at Clarke, "It's Bellamy's birthday, right? I got him a xbox."

"Great," Clarke said, sounding like a girlfriend to the millionaire, "More toys that prevent him from leaving the couch for hours."

Lincoln gave her a knowing look and it was obvious he knew about what had happened between the two, no doubt from Octavia. "Anyway," Lincoln smiled, "How's Bellamy doing with this whole wedding thing?"

"Don't forget Echo," Clarke muttered a little bitterly. She was surprised with herself, she never lashed out at people like this or talked about Bellamy that way.

"Octavia has told me all about that, don't worry, I'm well prepared. What should I expect from Bellamy?"

Maya sighed, "He's not happy, he might look it, he might sound like it, but that woman has him wrapped around her finger so tight he's suffocating."

Lincoln and Clarke stared at her in a little bit of shock, "Wow, okay so maybe I should talk to him?"

"Good, do that," Clarke said, walking over to the bottom of the stairs and yelling up, "Octavia! You have a visitor."

Lincoln threw his bag down and closed the door, listening to Octavia's footsteps pounding as she ran down the stairs, her eyes fell on Lincoln and she smiled brightly, "Hey!" She threw herself into his arms and kissed him quickly, probably just so Clarke and Maya didn't feel uncomfortable. 

But it does anyway, it makes Clarke's heart hurt when she sits down to finish eating her cold food with only Maya beside her and realizes just how much she aches to have someone beside her, someone who she knows will never leave.

Bellamy comes down the stairs hand in hand with Echo, glancing in her direction and frowning at her eating cold pancakes with Maya who's trying to elicit some kind of explanation for her sudden mood change. She looked at Maya, sending her a withering glare, shooting down the girl effectively, "Sorry," Maya whispered.

Clarke nodded and patted her hand reassuringly, finishing her last bite and putting all the dishes into the washer, watching as Bellamy introduced Echo to Lincoln proudly, and how Octavia introduced Lincoln to Echo proudly.

Clarke will never get used to this ache will she?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, had to get this part in because Lincoln is back and of course Echo's a bitch so, yeah.
> 
> I'm guessing there will be 10 chapters in total... If everything goes as planned.
> 
> What did you guys think?


	7. Denial Isn't Easy

Clarke and Raven exited the elevator on the top floor, heading to the penthouse door, "Why did you come up with me, Raven?"

Raven shrugged and watched Clarke unlock the door with her spare key, "Can't I be chivalrous? I mean, it's not like men do it for women anymore."

"Is that bitterness in your tone?" Clarke asked her with a small smirk.

Raven shook her head, "Open the door Griffin."

"It is!" Clarke exclaimed, "It's Wick, right?"

Raven grumbled and flipped her off, pushing passed Clarke to open the door, barging inside. Clarke followed and to her surprise, Bellamy, Octavia, Lincoln, Miller, and Maya were all seated at the dining table, they all looked up when they saw her, all speaking a greeting to the two roommates.

Raven walked up to Octavia and Lincoln, "Hey you guys, what's up?"

"Hey, you're Raven, right? I'm Lincoln," he held out his hand.

Raven took it firmly, "One and only, nice to meet you."

"Okay," Maya said, taking Raven by the arm, along with Miller and dragging her out into the hallway, leaving Clarke with Octavia and Lincoln. Maya ignored Raven's questions about what was happening and instead said, "Raven, do you know what happened Friday?"

"No?" Raven said slowly, her eyes begging for her to continue.

Miller spoke up, "Well, Bellamy's birthday was Friday-"

"Oh yeah, I know all that Miller. Clarke got him the Iliad, so what's the problem?" Raven asked impatiently.

Maya sighed, "Well actually Echo forgot a present for Bellamy, she forgot his birthday all together, and Clarke gave Echo her present, saying that Echo had her wrap it."

"And... Bellamy said that 'he wasn't sure about the whole marriage thing' yata yata yata and 'the woman who gave him this gift is the woman he knows he's going to marry.' Basically that's the gist of it, but Blake doesn't know that Clarke is the one who actually got him the gift," Miller explained, watching Raven's mouth fall open.

Raven didn't speak for a while, then her eyes narrowed, "Let me guess, I can't tell anyone?"

Miller and Maya shook their heads and Raven sighed, "I won't tell her or anyone else, okay?"

"We thought as her best friend, you should know," Maya told her with a small smile.

"Thank you, really, I'll talk to her later about it but I'm going to be late for work now if I don't hurry," Raven opened the door to the penthouse, yelling in, "Bye Clarkie, bye everyone!"

They all echoed their goodbyes as Raven left and Miller and Maya walked in, "What was that about?" Octavia asked from her seat beside Bellamy.

"Miller had to ask her advice about how to fix his vacuum because the suction sucks," Maya explained with a smile.

Clarke didn't look convinced, neither did the other three, but she continued to cut the fruit on the cutting board. Bellamy took a seat at the island counter and starting telling Clarke all about the Greek Gods and Goddesses, the other three rolled their eyes but Clarke seemed to love his enthusiasm. He was telling her about Cerberus when Octavia came up beside Clarke and knocked her hips playfully into hers, "I'll cut the fruit, you work on the other stuff."

Clarke nodded and looked at Bellamy, "Continue." But Bellamy wasn't paying her any attention, he was watching his sister and Clarke work in perfect harmony behind the counter. The look on his face was the same as his previous ones and Clarke, seeing it for the first time was a little creeped out and dropped the subject, instead turning to Octavia, "Do you know what I'm making?"

"No, I just hate it when you have to cook alone, think of me as your apprentice," Octavia smiled.

"Okay," Clarke laughed, "And I'm making crepes by the way."

Bellamy smiled and Clarke looked up to meet his eyes, they stared at each other for a long time before Clarke looked away to start kneading the dough. Once Octavia was done cutting the fruit, she helped out, both of them kneading it together.

After an hour, a bunch of squealing, Bellamy's snide comments, and Clarke and Octavia's infectious laughter, they finished with the crepes and Bellamy forced Clarke to sit down and eat with them. She agreed, albeit a little hesitantly but finally sat and ate, laughing when Miller sneezed the powder all over Bellamy, who was sitting across from him, and giggling with Octavia about how there was still some left in Bellamy's hair, getting it out herself while he smiled that wide toothy grin at her. They were just about done eating when the tornado of designer clothes stormed in, "Bellamy- you're not ready!" She screamed when she noticed his pajamas.

Beside Clarke, Octavia balled her fist, Lincoln reached over and rubbed it until she calmed down a bit. Bellamy stood up, "Oh my god, I completely forgot babe, I'll be ready in a second hold on!" With that, he ran up the stairs two at a time and came back down in a blazer and jeans 5 minutes later, in which Echo spent spatting in disgust at the crepes that Clarke made. Octavia was gripping her fork so hard that the metal was beginning to bend.

The younger girl glared daggers into Echo's back as she left with Bellamy in toe, "I hate her!" She yelled once they were gone.

The group at the table all nodded to themselves and Clarke got up, taking everyone's plates and began to rinse and put them in the dishwasher. Octavia stormed upstairs with Lincoln hot on her heels, trying to calm her down a bit, Miller's phone rang and he went into the office to take the call. Maya stayed behind, "I want to help," was all she said in explanation, Clarke took it and handed her a plate.

"So," Maya began and Clarke already knew what was coming, she sighed and gave Maya an exasperated look, "Hey, don't look at me like that."

Clarke raised her eyebrow in response. Maya sighed, "Clarke he deserves to know that you gave him that book, that you spent hours no doubt trying to find that exact book, am I right?"

Clarke nodded, Maya continued, "So why can't you tell him?"

"It'll ruin the marriage he's about to step into," Clarke said, her voice small.

Maya scoffed, "You mean the marriage that wouldn't last, the marriage that even Octavia herself doesn't want to happen? You're being ridiculous, Clarke."

"Maya!" Clarke snapped, "I can't let him get hurt, okay? He's been through enough, he's happy right now. I'm not about to ruin that."

"It's fake happiness, Clarke, he's not really happy!" Maya spoke with much more force than Clarke's ever heard before, "He's lying to himself."

Clarke ignored her from then on, unable to say anything else and Maya sighed, putting the plate in the dishwasher before going upstairs to clean Bellamy's bedroom no doubt. Clarke collapsed on the ground and rubbed her face in her hands, this was a mess. Why couldn't this job be easier?

~*~*~

That wasn't the end of it, when Clarke got home, Raven was standing there with her arms crossed, Clarke immediately knew, "I knew they told you when they brought you out into the hallway, I knew Maya would tell Miller, too."

"Clarke what are you doing?"

"Raven you've asked me that already, I'm trying to do my fricken job," Clarke said, her voice rising angrily.

Raven sighed, fight in her diminishing, "I can't convince you, I'm not even going to bother. You aren't going to budge on this, I know you too well. You're so far in denial that even I can't handle you.

Clarke watched Raven sit down on the couch and shook her head at Clarke, Clarke just huffed and moved over her legs to go change into her pajamas. They weren't fighting necessarily, Raven just needed Clarke to see how unreasonable she was being.

Raven took Clarke's phone from her purse she dropped on the couch and took Maya and Miller's numbers, setting up a group chat.

Raven: **Clarke is so far in denial that even I can't help her.**

Maya: **That's just great.**

Miller: **Fuck. What are we going to do?**

That's the million dollar question, now isn't it.

Clarke and Bellamy were obviously meant to be together, just like a flower needed water. Water the flower and the relationship will grow, don't and it could wilt and die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought about this chapter, next chapter is going to be a long chapter with scheming, stories, and drinking.


	8. The Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning, slight panic attack in this chapter. It's a very important chapter but long chapter...  
> Hint: Someone realizes their feelings :)

Two days later on Wednesday evening, Clarke was packing up her chef's knifes and about to leave for the night when Miller and Maya came in, "Hey Clarke," Maya said with a small smirk, "What are you doing tonight?"

Clarke stopped and looked at the two suspiciously, "Well since Raven is on a date with Wick, I'm going to be sitting at home binge watching How I Met Your Mother in my pajamas while eating some kind of junk food."

"Good so you have nothing planned?" Miller said playfully, "You should come to The Dropship Pub with us tonight."

Clarke stared back and forth between the two in awe, "You're serious?"

Maya nodded, "Yeah, you're part of the staff here, Clarke. You are more part of the family than Echo will ever be so yes, we're serious."

"Okay, what time?" Clarke said to distract them from the warmth in her belly and the heat in her cheeks.

Miller shrugged, "Does 8 o'clock work?"

Clarke looked at the clock on the oven and nodded, "Sounds good, enough time to change," she paused, thinking of her friends, "I know I shouldn't really ask this but can-"

"Jasper and Monty come?" Maya smiled at Clarke's surprised expression, "Yeah, Raven already told us that you hate leaving them out of plans at night because they'll do some interesting things with weed."

Clarke laughed and grabbed her case of chef knifes, "Okay then, I'll see you guys tonight!"

They waved after her, once the front door was closed to the penthouse, Miller looked at Maya, "She doesn't know it's his engagement party, does she?"

"Nope, we left Raven to tell her," Maya sighed and looked at the closed door with a miserable expression, "Poor thing, she doesn't realize how much she likes him."

Miller shook his head, "No she knows, she just or refuses to acknowledge it."

Maya took out her phone and texted in their little group chat of three.

Maya: **She's coming home now. Doesn't know it's an engagement party.**

~*~*~

Clarke got home and was surprised to see Raven on the couch with Wick, all dressed up. Wick smiled at her, "Hey Clarke, what's up?"

"Hey Wick, nothin' much, you?"

Wick smiled, "Oh you know, ready to get going."

"Clarke," Raven interjected before Clarke could ask Wick what he meant, "You need to go put on that nice blue dress you have and get a move on, okay?"

"Why?"

Raven sighed, "Because we have to get going to the bar, we're supposed to pick up Jasper and Monty too so hurry up."

"I thought you two had a date?"

Wick shrugged, "Plans change, Clarke."

Clarke sighed and went into Raven's room to get dressed in the blue semi-formal dress. She redid her make-up, and slipped on some white heels and was out in less than 25 minutes. Raven and Wick apprised her, "That's freaking gorgeous," Raven commented before getting up and pushing her out the door with Wick, "Come on, into the Uber."

After they picked up Jasper and Monty, all excitement and slightly cloudy eyes, Raven told Clarke what the party at the bar really was. Clarke didn't look crushed at all, she just nodded and set her jaw, "I figured it was something along those lines."

Jasper and Monty didn't know what was going on at all but since Clarke was sitting in between them, they decided to hug her from either side, planting kisses on both her cheeks, and she burst out laughing. They could tell when Clarke was upset about something, even if she tried to hide it.

Finally, they arrived at the bar and all climbed out of the Uber, going inside to find Miller and Maya sitting at a circular booth. Both Monty and Jasper froze, looking at either of the two co-workers in awe. Clarke laughed at them and shoved them forward, she knew this was bound to happen. Raven and her had been talking about them being possible matchmakers since Raven met Miller and Maya.

Jasper was forced to sit by Maya and both were looking a little flushed. Monty was forced to sit next to Miller and they both looked too shy to talk to each other. Clarke had never seen the four of these people look so speechless, she looked at Raven and they both shared a knowing smirk.

Clarke made the first move, "Maya, this is Jasper, Jasper, Maya, you both are adorable dorks and love comic books so quiz each other," that seemed to strike a conversation between the two, "Miller, this is Monty, Monty, Miller, you both are secretly bookworms so talk about how the world is flat-" the two rushed to correct her and Clarke knew that her purpose mistake would lead to a conversation between the two.

"Actually Clarke-" Monty started, but stopped when Miller said "No it's not-" at the same time. They both smiled wide at each other and launched into a conversation about how people didn't understand logic or science.

Raven leaned over and whispered, "Nice one Griffin, now they have two other people to be obsessed over instead of us."

"Now I have more time with you," Wick told Raven with a smile, she looked up at him to meet that smile with her own. Clarke watched her best friend start to open her heart again with a soft smile, Raven needed a guy like Wick in her life.

Clarke realized that everyone was paired up, everyone was lost in conversation and she was all alone. The odd man out.

Just as Clarke was thinking about getting up to get a drink from the bar, a force slid into her side and shoved her into Raven with a gasp. Octavia laughed and hugged Clarke, "Hey babe."

"Hey Octavia," Clarke smiled, hugging the brunette as Lincoln slid in beside Octavia, giving everyone a wave. Finally, Bellamy and Echo came in and sat at the head of the booth in chairs because there was no room left to sit on the plush booth seats.

Echo looked as snobby and rich as ever while Bellamy looked as radiant as ever, like a light in a dark tunnel. Clarke had barely seen him the past few days and she didn't really understand why but just by the way Echo had her arm wrapped around Bellamy's neck, Clarke knew it had to be because of her.

Octavia and Lincoln introduced themselves to Jasper and Monty first, "I'm Octavia, this is my husband Lincoln, I'm Bellamy's sister."

"I'm Monty, goggles is Jasper," Jasper tried to interject while Maya and Miller laughed but they were cut off by Echo.

Echo seemed to be very possessive, especially whenever Clarke would look in their direction, "I'm Echo, this is my fiancé Bellamy."

Monty and Jasper said their hellos, a little warily, and the conversation continued. Clarke kept zoning in and out and the only ones who noticed were the two woman sitting on either side of her, Raven and Octavia.

The two shared a look at the blondes sudden mood change and leaped into action to try and include everyone in the conversation, "Show of hands," Raven began, "How many of you heard the story about how in college Jasper, Monty, and I had to help Clarkie here get out of a vending machine?"

No one raised there hands but Jasper and Monty burst out laughing while Clarke covered her face with her hands and buried her head on Octavia's shoulder, groaning.

Bellamy was watching Clarke's embarrassment with that stupidly adorable loving smile that, once again, Clarke missed. Echo didn't miss it though, she saw it and kissed Bellamy straight on the lips to distract him. Everyone who knew about the deal between Bellamy and Clarke which included Wick now, stiffened at the obvious attempt. Jasper and Monty weren't quite in the know yet, but they would be soon enough.

"So Clarkie here," Raven patted Clarke's shoulder, "Had a very important day coming up, she was going to take her very important, future deciding final in culinary her senior year and she stayed up all night studying for it two days in advance. Jasper and Monty here, being the stress relievers they are stole her notecards from her when she was in the bathroom and stuffed them into a vending machine. Now let me tell you, a pissed Clarke Griffin is not what you want, she gets very scary."

Jasper and Monty nodded vigorously and Clarke lifted her head up from Octavia's shoulder and stared at the two boys with a smirk. Raven continued with a wide smile on her face, "So Clarke is on her way to their dorm room when she sees the cards in the vending machine. She probably spends, what? 5 minutes?"

Clarke nodded, "Yeah about."

"You tell it Clarke," Raven said with a smile and Clarke nodded.

"So I spent a good 5 minutes shaking the damn thing to try and get them out but they wouldn't budge. Naturally I did the second best thing I could, I reached up through the dispenser to try and get them, effectively getting my left arm stuck," Clarke laughed in embarrassment.

Raven continued, "So I'm back in our dorm and Clarke calls me up with her cellphone and says, "Raven get your ass to the vending machine right now." I could tell something was up so I went down and found this poor little blonde struggling to free her arm."

"While they were doing that," Monty continued, still struggling to keep a straight face, "Jasper and I had the actual index cards, those index cards were cards that you could get out of the machine for like 2 dollars. So Clarke got her arm stuck for no reason at all."

Octavia looked invested in the story, "What happened next?"

Jasper shrugged, "We clearly had to cut her arm off, couldn't let her just sit there stuck."

Everyone (but Echo) laughed at that and everyone was struggling for air as Monty continued with the story, "So Raven calls us and we knew that she would kill us if we didn't answer so naturally we answered and immediately got our ears screamed into."

"Can't deny that," Raven shrugged, leaning into Wick with a light laugh.

"Raven demanded we come back and help Clarke so we did and found Clarke with her arm in the machine while Raven was struggling to pull her out," Monty couldn't continue because he was laughing so much.

Jasper took over, also struggling to tell the story through his own laughter, "I had this idea, so I took off running and went to the biggest man-whore in the whole campus, Dax, and asked to borrow his personal lube."

Everyone at the table cracked up (except Echo, again) and Clarke absentmindedly scratched at her arm like it was still covered in the substance.

Once it had died down, Raven continued, "So Jasper comes around the corner with an abnormally large bottle of lube and Clarke starts struggling more at the sight of it, telling Jasper he is "not putting that shit on her arm" and of course we don't listen, we pin her down and cover her arm in lubricant and after we are able to pull her arm out."

"Except," Clarke said, "I was bleeding on my arm from my struggling and because they lathered my arm up while I was bleeding, it spread the blood around and made my entire arm covered in blood. So Jasper fainted and Monty started freaking out, only Raven kept a cool head and literally took the shirt off her back to use to wipe off my arm. It was a meager cut and we burned the shirt later."

The whole table was looking at the four who told the story curiously, "All that actually happened?" Lincoln asked with a grin.

Clarke held up her arm to show a tiny scar on her bicep, "Aftter I took my final, I ended up having to go and get stitches because it wouldn't stop bleeding but yeah, it really happened."

"Damn, I wish I went to college with you guys, the adventures you had must've been awesome," Octavia grinned.

"Oh believe me," Monty said pronouncing the 'e's' with exaggeration, "We had crazy times in college. There was one time Clarke and Raven literally stripped-"

"Monty!" They both shouted at the same time and the group chuckled.

Wick looked at Raven, "You have to tell me that story."

"Maybe," Raven told him happily, "If you're good."

Clarke smiled at the two fondly and once again, conversations drifted between the pairs again, leaving Clarke the odd man out.

Bellamy ordered the group a few rounds of alcohol and soon Octavia and Lincoln were dancing together on the dance floor with Bellamy and Echo joining in, Echo purposely grinding down on Bellamy. Octavia kept staring daggers at Echo when she and Bellamy weren't looking. Clarke was seated at the bar talking to some guy all dressed up in a blazer and tie. That left Jasper, Maya, Miller, Monty, Raven, and Wick to talk about the mission.

"Have you guys noticed the way Bellamy looks at Clarke and the way she looks back?" Monty asked.

"Yeah," Jasper added, fist pumping Monty because they agreed on it, "It's like they have some kind of attraction for each other."

The other four, who knew everything, gave each other amused looks before Raven asked the two boys, "What do you think of Echo?"

"What a bitch, she literally hung all over Bellamy since they first arrived? I mean look at her now, she's grinding all over him," Jasper spat, glaring at the designer clothed woman.

Monty nodded, "Totally a bitch. A conceded rich bitch who doesn't deserve what she has. Why is Bellamy with her?"

Everyone shrugged, Maya spoke up, "Now that we can't answer, we think he's in denial of his feelings and we know that he can't love someone that evil and cocky."

Both boys nodded and Raven looked at Maya and Miller, "What do you think, should we add them?"

"Hell yeah, they seem like good schemers," Miller said, smiling at Monty while Maya just nodded and placed her hand over Jaspers.

"Okay," Raven whipped out her phone and added Jasper, Monty, and Wick to the group chat.

Jasper and Monty both looked at their phones and grinned, "Operation Bellarke?" That has an awesome ring to it," Jasper laughed with glee.

"Okay so tell us the story with those two so far," Monty said.

And they did.

Meanwhile, Clarke was struggling to get away from the guy in the blazer, he either wasn't paying attention or didn't care about the hints she was giving off that she wasn't interested. Clearly it was the later because she went to get up when he grabbed her wrist to stop her and she yanked her arm away. He grabbed her bicep this time and out of no where he was pulled away and pinned to the bar by Bellamy, "Take a hint, asshole, she doesn't want to talk to you."

"Fuck off," the man in the blazer told Bellamy.

Echo took that moment to come over, "Bellamy, babe, come on, please. Let him go, I'm sure he didn't mean any harm."

"Yeah right," Octavia scoffed quietly from beside Clarke as she hooked arms with her, "Come on Clarke, you're staying with me."

Lincoln sat at the bar watching the two girls as they went out to dance and Bellamy sat down beside him, "Where did Echo just go?" Lincoln wondered.

"The bathroom, so that gives me, oh, I don't know 5 or 6 minutes to hang out here," Bellamy sighed, his eyes following his sister and Clarke as they danced to a pop song by Sia or someone like that.

"Why are you marrying Echo?" Lincoln asked, at Bellamy's surprised expression he quickly added, "Not to be rude, I'm just saying, she seems all a bit much for a guy like you."

"I-" Bellamy couldn't give an answer but it didn't matter because Lincoln continued.

"I mean how much about her cares about you? She broke up with you the day you were about the propose, only to come running back? Honestly who is putting more into your relationship, you or her? Because it's not her at all," Lincoln told him softly.

Bellamy was struck dumbfounded before he shook his head, "I love her, okay? I know she might not seem like she loves me but I know deep in my heart that she loves me. She knows me so well, Lincoln, she gave me that book months after I told her about it because she remembered. She does care for me, just as I care for her."

Octavia twirled Clarke around and Clarke, already tipsy, fell over and started laughing historically. Bellamy tensed like he was about to go see if she was okay but Octavia raised her hand at him to signal that everything was fine, a smirk playing on her lips. She helped Clarke up and they continued dancing.

"See? Look at the way he's looking at her," Raven said to the group at the table, "Clearly she's unaware or just denying it. I know for a fact that denying it is so much easier because I've done the same thing, before you of course, Wick."

Wick nodded and kissed Raven's temple, "Good."

"Okay clearly they like each other, what's the plan?" Monty asked.

"We wait," Miller said, confirmed by both Raven and Maya's nods, "The perfect opportunity will present itself and we'll be ready then. For now keep Octavia and Lincoln in the dark, we don't want her to get angry and spill it before we have a chance to carefully decide course of action."

They all nodded and watched as Echo came out of the bathroom, make-up layered onto her face and sat straight on Bellamy's lap. Clarke was too distracted by Octavia to notice the glares that Echo was sending her way.

The night continued and eventually everyone was around the table yet again and Clarke was the odd man out. Everyone's laughing and joking and she felt suffocated, like the air was being choked out of her and when Echo pulled Bellamy in for an overly passionate kiss, Clarke felt her chest heaving with lack of air. She panicked and crawled over Octavia in a rush, Lincoln getting up in time to let her out and she ran to the single bathroom in the back of the bar and locked the door.

Clarke tried to calm herself down and struggled, suddenly there was a knock at the door and the voice she can't get enough of spoke, "Clarke?"

Clarke can't get a word past her lips and heard him speak again, "Clarke, come on are you okay?"

Again, she couldn't answer, she looked up at herself in the mirror, her face is chalk white, pupils blown wide and lips dry and cracked. Bellamy sounded like he's panicking, "Clarke? Come on, please open up."

Clarke sunk down onto the floor, chest heaving and eyes watering with unshed tears, finally Bellamy spoke again, "I'm getting help."

She reached up at that and unlocked the door, immediately it swung open and Bellamy stepped in, "Clarke?" His voice was small.

He shut the door behind him and kneeled in front of her, "Hey, it's okay, it's okay." He slowly wrapped his arms around her and held up both of his hands in front of her, "Count down out loud for me, okay?"

She nodded and began, "O-o-ne," he put one finger down, "T-tw-o," he put another down. With every finger he put down her breathing slowed and she leaned heavily against his embrace for a minute, just enjoying the comfort he provided before she realized who this was. She sat up and slowly rose to her feet, "Thank you, Bellamy."

"No problem, I used to get panic attacks after my mom died. Octavia would tell me to count down on my fingers, it helps most of the time," Clarke nodded at his words.

She heaved a sigh and pushed out of the bathroom, he followed behind her cautiously, like he didn't want to go back to the group and wanted to stay with her. For the rest of the night she was quiet, only really talking when she was directly spoken to. She didn't notice Bellamy ignoring Echo and focusing on her, everyone else did though.

~*~*~

Thursday morning, the day after the engagement party at the pub, Clarke walked into the penthouse to find Bellamy slumped over the counter, she pushed aside any awkwardness since the night before and put on a smile, "Morning Bellamy."

He weakly put his hand up and waved it slightly, "Shh, quiet voices Clarke."

"Sorry," Clarke smirked and walked over behind the counter, "Should I make my handy dandy Hangover Helper?"

Bellamy groaned, "Please do."

Clarke set to work on making the extreme milkshake, it would certainly give him a high calorie intake for the day but with the rate he's hungover right now, she didn't think he'd mind all that much. While she was preparing, Bellamy took two aspirin and struck up a conversation, "Can I know what freaked you out last night?"

"Nope," Clarke answered, "Honestly thank you for helping but you don't have to get any more involved than you are, Bellamy."

Bellamy seemed to be a little forceful today, so every time he tried to ask her about it, she would turn on the blender and drown him out. That must have pissed him off because he came up beside her and turned off the blender, cornering her against the counter top, "Please Clarke I want to help." He stared into her eyes and she stared back, unable to look away.

"You can't," she whispered quietly, a little miserably, "You can't."

Bellamy was so close she could feel the warmth radiating off his body and it was a little distracting, "Why not?"

 _Because it was about you,_ "Because it's not important."

"How is it not important? Clarke I know that _that_ panic attack wasn't a minor thing, it wasn't some hiccup, it wasn't easy to avoid," Bellamy told her, "What can I do to help?"

 _Kiss me._ "N-nothing, I have it under control, Bellamy. Believe me I do."

Suddenly the warmth left as he backed away, "Alright, if you say so."

Clarke nodded and continued to blend the milkshake together, then she poured it into a big glass and placed it in front of him, "Here you go, one hangover helper."

He eyed the glass warily before sighing and taking a huge sip, he smiled and looked at her, "This is actually delicious."

"Good. Where's Octavia?" She asked, wondering if the girl was around to talk because she had a lot on her mind.

"She's upstairs, probably asleep, Lincoln left earlier to go talk to the travel agency about something so she's probably sleeping in."

Clarke poured another glass and nodded, "Okay." She headed upstairs, Bellamy watching her go with that look in his eyes again, like she was the best and most beautiful goddamn woman ever. She walked down the hall to the only bedroom with the door closed and knocked softly, a groan and a curse followed and she decided that she could go in. She slipped inside and in the little bit of light coming in from between the curtains, she saw Octavia sprawled out on the bed, "Octavia?"

The girl lifted her head groggily, "Clarke, what the hell are you doing?"

"Bringing you a Hangover Helper as a peace offering," at those words, Octavia sat up so fast she gave Clarke a head rush and took the glass out of her hands.

Octavia patted the bed next to her and rolled her eyes when Clarke hesitated, staring at the bedsheets warily, "Relax, the bed's clean." Once she looked into Octavia's face and saw she was serious, she flopped down beside the brunette, "So what's up?" Octavia asked.

"What is going on with me?"

Octavia raised her brow, "Well you're breaking out on your chin, probably because you're on your period or haven't been drinking enough, you have a stain on your blouse, you don't seem the least bit hungover, and you keep ogling my brother."

Clarke looked up at her, completely dumbfounded, "Okay Jesus that's a lot, Octavia."

"Well is it true?" She asked the blonde.

Clarke sighed, "I'm most likely dehydrated, not on my period, I got the stain slaving over your milkshake, and I have a high tolerance for alcohol and took two Advil before leaving the house."

"Hey!" Octavia said, poking her in the side, "You missed the last one."

"I'm not answering it."

Octavia huffed and rolled over, pinning Clarke down, "Clarke! Come on just tell me what the hell is going on."

"Nothing Octavia, just leave it alo-" 

She was cut off by Octavia, "Clarke!"

Octavia's incessant shouting made her snap, "He's with Echo!" She whispered.

"He doesn't love her," Octavia said gently.

Clarke scoffed, frustrated tears welling up in her eyes, "Of course he does because he's still with her Octavia." She blinked the tears away and took a deep breath to collect herself.

"Clarke," Octavia told her calmly, "You need to understand this, he doesn't know how it feels to be in love, he's just going by what he wants to feel. You're the one he likes, Clarke."

Clarke shook her head, "No Octavia. I'm not. Don't go telling me lies because I swear to God I will kick your ass."

Octavia rolled off of her and put her hands up in defeat, "You both are blind - or rather, he's the blind one, you're just the one who can't see passed his actions towards Echo."

"I hate my life," Clarke murmured to Octavia quietly, "All there is, is drama, everywhere I go."

Octavia sighed and held Clarke close, the blonde burying her head into the brunettes shoulder. She found herself imagining that it was Bellamy holding her instead and she instantly relaxed. She realized how much she cared about him the minute she imagined him whispering three little words to her, "I love him," she whispered miserably.

Octavia sighed, rubbing her back soothingly, "I know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So tell me what you thought of this chapter, I'm thinking of an epilogue to be the 10th chapter... Thoughts?


	9. Operation Bellarke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the final chapter. Do you guys want an epilogue? Let me know what you guys think at the end.

It was late in the morning on the day of the wedding reception, Clarke and Octavia were sitting on the couch painting their nails for the big event that was "oh so very important". Bellamy was seated at the island counter, reading the newspaper like the old man he was and occasionally glanced at the two when one of them giggled or sighed in frustration when the polish didn't turn out how they wanted it to.

"So, how're you and Lincoln liking being back in San Francisco?" Clarke asked her with a smile.

Octavia glanced at Bellamy quickly before speaking, "I think we're going to stay here for a while, maybe a year or two so we can stay with my brother while he gets his life sorted out. That's where Lincoln was yesterday, telling them that we're taking one or two years off."

There was a glint in Clarke's eye as the blonde caught the hint in her friends voice and she looked down at Octavia's stomach, knowing not to voice her question with her brother in the room. Octavia smiled brightly and nodded slightly to confirm Clarke's silent question. She was pregnant.

Clarke looked over at Bellamy at the exact same time he looked at her and their eyes met, they didn't pull away until Echo barged into the penthouse carrying at least a dozen shopping bags and disrupted the peaceful and strangely domestic moment, "Babe," she said with a rather whiny tone, "Come and help me pick out a dress for the reception."

Bellamy sighed and Clarke realized that the smile he flashed Echo was really fake. Probably as fake as her hair was. The blonde's heart ached for him as he went up the stairs after Echo, pretending that he was in love with her because that's what he felt like he should be.

Octavia watched the way Clarke looked at him as he went up the stairs and the way he turned around on the stairs to look back at her and grinned, a true smile this time. This was progress.

Bellamy and Echo stayed upstairs picking out Echo's stupid dress for hours (2 to be exact) and by the time that he came downstairs both Clarke and Octavia were at Clarke and Raven's apartment to get ready for the reception in 2 hours. Echo breezed past him, "See you tonight, Bell-a-bear!" She called as she left the penthouse in a rush.

Bellamy smiled until the door shut and the smile melted off his face once the door shut and he collapsed on the couch, rubbing his face. Miller slowly came in, "Uh Bellamy?"

Bellamy looked startled for a second before he schooled his expression, "Yeah?"

"Well Maya and I were wondering if we could bring plus ones to the reception?"

Bellamy shot him a knowing look, "You mean Monty and Jasper?" Miller nodded nervously and Bellamy smiled, "Of course, I want them to be there tonight. All our friends in one place."

"Okay. Bellamy, are you okay?" Miller asked softly.

"Yeah," Bellamy sighed, "I'm fine, just nervous. This is a big step, it's a little nerve wracking."

Millers phone went off and he looked down at it. The group chat.

Raven: **Okay we're almost ready. Depending on how today goes, we'll decide if we will go through with the operation or not.**

"Raven says that they're all almost ready to go Bellamy, so go get ready so I can get you to your reception."

Bellamy nodded, "Okay, sounds good, I'll be down in less than 20 minutes."

It was actually 30 minutes, but Miller wasn't panicking or anything, no, he was totally calm (not) about a wedding he basically planned himself getting all screwed up because Bellamy didn't arrive on time.

Bellamy came down the stairs and Miller whistled, "Damn Blake."

"Shut up Miller," Bellamy said as he fixed his tie.

"Will do, right after you get in the car," Miller said, pushing Bellamy out the door, "We still have to pick up Jasper and Monty!"

So 15 minutes later, the men walk into the reception and see everyone but Echo standing around talking. Clarke zeros in on Bellamy and Bellamy zeros in on Clarke. He's looking attractive in a suit and she's looking hot in her red dress that hugs her in all the right places. They hold each other's gazes for what seems like minutes, but was only seconds before the priest calls everyone forward. Bellamy stepped up on the alter alone and the priest makes a _tsk_ sound, "Where's the bride to be?"

The group is silent and the priest huffs, "I have a circumcision at 7:00 people, let's hurry this along." He scans the group, "You, Blondie, get up here and pretend to be the bride for the vows."

Clarke's eyes widen as she shakily stood up and made her way over, standing on the alter facing Bellamy, she can tell he's really nervous so she winks at him and decides to be brave for the both of them.

"Mr. Blake, pretend Blondie is your future Mrs. Blake, okay? Start with your vows you wanted to practice with."

Raven leans over to Octavia, "This is either going to be awesome or a fucking disaster."

He starts with his vows, cutting Octavia off before she could reply, "Okay. Echo, I guess, I know for a fact that the minute you can into my life I knew you were something special. Especially after that gift that you gave me, I knew you knew me so well and I knew I had to get to know you more and maybe I could be something more to you. Waking up beside you for the rest of my life is something I've dreamt about since I was young. You make me a better man, a better person, and a better listener. I love you for that, I don't know what a day without you would look like but I certainly don't want to live it. You are certainly a spirit to be reckoned with and the joy in your eyes every time you cook- I mean, come home from shopping makes me happy that I get to be around you for the rest of my life to see that sparkle of joy continue to shine-"

Raven grabbed the whole group and pulled them all aside into a circle, knowing that Clarke and Bellamy wouldn't notice since Bellamy was still reciting his vows, "What the hell was that?"

"After the first few lines he started speaking to Clarke, not Echo," Jasper told them.

"Someone really has to tell him," Maya whispered.

"Wait," Octavia said from beside Lincoln in the circle, "Tell him what?"

Miller sighed, "That book that Echo got for Bellamy's birthday?" He waited till both she and Lincoln nodded before continuing, "Clarke actually got it for him, she realized that Echo forgot Bellamy's birthday so she gave it to Echo to give to Bellamy."

Lincoln and Octavia glanced back at Clarke, at the way she seemed determined not to show emotion during his vows, the way she tried to stay strong for him. The way her eyes looked at him with so much care in the world, more than Echo ever did.

"I actually can't believe I didn't see that," Octavia said with a little annoyance in her tone, Lincoln just sighed and shook his head, looking disappointed in himself.

Raven sighed and took out her phone adding Octavia and Lincoln(once he told her his number) into the group chat, while she did that Monty spoke from beside Miller, "So we tell him. Get rid of Echo and bada-bing-bada-boom."

"Yes get rid of her please. Is this going to be like Pretty Women? Where guys are romantic and loving and care?" Wick asked, looking offended when everyone stared at him, "Don't judge me, I did studying before asking this one out." He was pointing at Raven, she just shrugged and finished adding the two into the group chat.

Octavia nodded, "Yes, Bellamy is romantic like that. I think he'll want to make his feelings clear once I tell him. That also means getting rid of Echo, which I'm more than happy about."

"Agreed. Okay so, Octavia is telling him, I'll be at my apartment with Clarke, Maya, Miller, Jasper, and Monty, you guys all go home with Lincoln and Octavia and she'll tell him. That way he has you guys to encourage him to take a risk and come to Clarke, okay?" Raven said with finalization.

Maya spoke, "Oh and if anything goes wrong or someone doesn't react well, text the group chat and we will figure it out."

"Basically what Maya means is that if Echo's hard to get to leave, text Raven and she'll go all Latina on her ass and knock her out into next week," Jasper said, making everyone crack a smile.

They all went back to their seats right as Bellamy was done with his vows. Clarke started hers, pretending to be Echo, "So Echo would probably say, that you're cute, you're funny, you're a good man, you're the man that she's always dreamed of marrying, you're a family man and she finds that really attractive, you're generous, and you're one of a kind. She'll probably go on to say that you can help her through any bad day and be there when she needs you, and that she couldn't live without that at all. Then she'll say that she can't wait for this new life with you by her side, sharing her life as you embark on a journey together through the bends and twists that life throws at you. She'll tell you how much she loves you because anyone would be stupid not to, how excited she is to be apart of your little imperfectly perfect family. Finally she'll tell you that you are the half that makes her whole, as cheesy as it sounds-" 

Clarke was cut off by Echo sprinting in, "Sorry I'm late!" Bellamy stared at Clarke, never looking away, she dropped her gaze and went to sit down between Raven and Octavia.

"Ah, Echo, here you are, glad you could make it, now let's continue. So-" Clarke tuned it out, not wanting to hear it. Octavia and Raven both threw sympathetic gazes her way and she just grabbed both of their hands in either of hers and gave them a light squeeze as if to say, _I'm okay._

They didn't look convinced but left her alone, Echo and Bellamy were smiling stupidly in love at each other and as soon as the priest ended the reception, Clarke walked out and Raven followed her after she gave Wick a quick peck goodbye. On her way out, she texted the group chat to let them know.

Raven: **Clarke is overwhelmed by her feelings, she wanted to leave so we r heading to apartment now, plan's still in motion.**

She got a bunch of thumbs up emojis in reply as she hopped in her car with Clarke, and rolled her eyes at the screen. Raven drove while Clarke sat staring out the window, letting silence consume the car until Raven arrived at their apartment building and parked the car. Clarke got out and walked inside, Raven followed and they rode the elevator in silence yet again.

To tell the truth, Raven didn't really know how to approach this with Clarke, she was stumped as to what she was going to do and it frustrated her.

~*~*~

Meanwhile Bellamy, Octavia, Lincoln, Miller, Maya, Jasper, and Monty all walked into the penthouse, everyone but the two Blake siblings collapsed on the couch. Octavia was watching her brother pace around with narrowed, curious eyes, "What's wrong big brother?"

"Am I making a mistake?"

Here it was, the opportunity, the only chance they had to tell him before Echo got back from her parents house. Octavia shared a look with each of them before she spoke, "Bell, sit," she gently pushed him down into the arm chair, "There's something you need to know."

"Okay," he sat, "What?" At his sister's hesitance, "What Octavia?"

Octavia took a deep breath, "That book you got for your birthday, The Iliad? It wasn't from Echo."

"What do you mean?" Bellamy said, eyebrows creasing.

Miller sighed, "For fucks sake Octavia just tell him," Monty put a hand on Millers thigh to calm him down a bit.

"Like ripping off a bandaid," Lincoln whispered.

"Okay. The Iliad was from Clarke, not Echo. Echo completely forgot about your birthday and Clarke being Clarke let Echo say that it was her present," Octavia said, moving away to let him process it.

Bellamy sat there dumbfounded, he was quiet for the longest time as he mulled things over. Echo came through the front door, "Hey sorry I'm late."

Bellamy stood up and grabbed Echo's hand, dragging her into the open concept kitchen while the others looked on, "Echo, what's my favorite color?"

"What?"

"What's the most important day of my life?"

Echo scoffed, "What's with all these pointles-"

"What's my absolute passion?"

"Seriously, Bellamy, what is this?"

Bellamy just looked more and more disappointed, "What did I tell you was my favorite holiday?"

Echo defended herself immediately, "I thought that after we got married I could learn all these things about you."

Octavia laughed dryly from her seat on the coffee table, shaking her head at the obnoxiousness. Lincoln grabbed Octavia around the waist to stop her from going after Echo, whispering something in her ear about being careful. Octavia relaxed and placed a hand over Lincoln's on her stomach.

Bellamy cleared his throat, "That book wasn't from you, was it?"

"Yes, I-" Bellamy gave her a stern look and Echo fell silent, giving him his answer. Before he could kick her out, Echo snapped, "This is because of that little blonde bitch, isn't it? I knew that she was out to ruin us and now look what she's done, she's turned you against me!"

"Echo, this has nothing to do with Clarke, okay? She is just caught up in all this. The reason I'm breaking up with you is because you care more about yourself and your money more than you could ever care about me," Bellamy was able to keep a calm tone the whole time.

Echo scoffed, "I knew I shouldn't have listened to my therapist!"

"What do you mean?" Bellamy asked.

"Well," Echo said like she was the most intelligent being ever, "My therapist told me to stop creating drama and to cut it from my life. So I broke up with you after I cheated on you because telling you would create more drama."

Bellamy stood there, rigid, the other Blake huffed in anger, she marched right up to Echo and did so thing much worse than a punch could. She tore off the sleeve of her designer jacket and backed away quickly before Echo could retaliate. Echo screamed, "You bitch!"

"Don't cheat on my brother you slut!" Octavia shouted back at her, Lincoln grabbed Octavia to keep her from going at Echo again.

Echo scoffed, turning back to Bellamy, "Fuck you and your family! I can't believe I almost married you."

"Yeah me either," Bellamy said, like he had just come to the realization.

Echo scoffed, "Please, I had you wrapped around my finger, I was supposed to be the daughter who got married to a successful man first, not left the night before the wedding!"

"This was all about keeping up your appearances?" Octavia asked with disgust and bitterness evident in her tone.

"Of course! Why else would I marry a successful man like Bellamy? For love?" She laughed, all high and mighty.

"Echo," Bellamy said with a blooming smile, "when you're 45 years old, getting wrinkles, energy starting to fail and you're all alone because everyone left you. Don't you come crawling back to me, because I'll be happily married with my own children and a wife who fucking takes the time to learn about who I am." He ignored the image or blonde hair that flashed into his mind.

"Whatever," Echo scoffed, turning to leave to hide how much it that had gotten to her.

Bellamy wasn't done yet, "Oh and Echo?"

"What?" She turned towards him, eyes blazing.

"If you ever try to do any sort of harm to Clarke or my family, whether physical or mental, I will find you and put you behind bars. I have security cameras all around my apartment and I'm sure that you've done things that you don't want the Feds to find out about. So are we clear?"

Echo didn't speak, Bellamy tried again, more forceful, "Are we clear?"

"Yes!" Echo snapped, "I'll stay away from the blonde bitch. I'll stay away from all of you."

"Thank god, can I have that in contract please?" Miller asked as she stormed by. She stopped and stared at him before grunting like a spoiled 12-year-old girl and stomped out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

Bellamy collapsed back on the armchair, he thought for a minute, "Oh my god. What do I do about Clarke?"

"Well, do you like her," Maya asked.

Bellamy smiled, "I feel like she knows me more than I know myself and I've only known her for two weeks."

"Bell, why don't you go to her. I bet you she's miserable because she thinks that you're still having that wedding. She doesn't know that she can eat that wedding cake she slaved over for two weeks now," Octavia told him with a smile.

Bellamy looked up at Octavia, "She likes me?"

"Yes, and you've been an idiot not to see it so go big brother, come on, let's get a move on!"

Bellamy launched to his feet and ran out of the penthouse, and Octavia immediately texted the group chat.

Octavia: **Romeo is on his way to see Juilet.**

Monty laughed at the while the others just grinned widely, "We just set them up, didn't we?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah Jas, I think we did," Maya confirmed, patting his hand comfortingly.

Lincoln sighed, "Now it's just a matter of whether they work it out or not."

Bellamy stopped for a bouquet of roses before he parked next to Clarke's apartment. He didn't know how to get into her apartment without giving away he was there so he decided to climb up the fire escape. In the pouring rain.

He knew what floor it was and that the fire escape was right outside the window. He climbed all the way to their floor and peeked into the window, the sight he saw crushed his heart, Clarke was standing in her pajamas crying while Raven held her close, Raven's eyes fell on him and she smirked, obviously knowing the plan that the group devised

"Clarke," Raven said, "Can you go shut the window?"

Clarke sniffled and wiped her eyes, "Yeah, I didn't know that we opened it." She turned to go towards the window and froze when she saw Bellamy there, and after a beat of silence she laughed through her tears and opened the window.

Bellamy climbed inside and couldn't stop smiling, he reached out and wiped away the stray tears, "These roses are for you, obviously, mostly to say sorry for being stupid and causing you so much pain."

"Thank you," Clarke laughed lightly, taking the roses and putting them into a vase.

Raven slipped into her bedroom, listening through the crack in the door as Clarke spoke, "Bellamy Blake, did you climb a fire escape in the rain while carrying a bouquet of roses? What on Earth made you think that was smart?"

"Well I thought it was smart when I found out that someone paid enough attention to me to get me something that meant the world to me for my birthday," Bellamy spoke as Clarke slowly crept towards him.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. So when I found that out, I called off my wedding and hurried here to make it up to her before I was too late."

Clarke paused, "You called off your wedding to come here and give me roses?"

"Well I also planned on asking you out, so..." Bellamy nervously ran a hand through his hair.

Clarke grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him so passionately that it made his head spin, he pulled away, "I take that as a yes?"

"Possibly," she replied with a laugh before he kissed her again, slowly laying her down on her on the futon. Their kiss was electrifying and bright and full of so much energy it was like they were the only two that were lighting up a world full of darkness.

Raven silently screamed in happiness and shut her door quietly, jumping up and down before taking out her phone and texting the group chat.

Raven: **Guess who's making out on my couch?**

Raven swore she could hear Jasper's screaming from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go, all 9 chapters. The 10th would be an epilogue, but only if you guys feel like you need it. Let me know.
> 
> Thank you all for the support I've gotten with this book! You're comments were awesome and I loved to read them. I appreciate how invested you were in this story, it really pushed me to finish it.


	10. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IT'S FINALLY HERE! I'm proud of how many of you guys liked this story and I know you've all been waiting for an epilogue so here it is.

**Three years later**

Clarke stood at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in a red dress and black leggings, she huffed and took a deep breath before she yelled, "Bell!"

"Yeah?" He screamed back.

"Would you hurry up, everyone will be here soon!" Clarke shouted.

Bellamy came running down the stairs, "Sorry babe, I couldn't find my tie."

"It's-" Clarke began.

"Clarke," he said with a soft smile, cradling her face in both of his hands, "I found it under our bed, just like you were about to tell me, right?"

She nodded and leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his waist firmly, "I've been too exhausted lately."

"Well it is Christmas Eve, lots to prepare for," Bellamy grinned.

Clarke rolled her eyes at her husband's antics, "That too."

A knock on the door jolted them from each other and Bellamy hurried over to the door after placing a soft kiss on her forehead, opening it widely, anticipating what was about to happen. 

A little 3-year-old boy with insanely curly brunette hair and an adorable dimpled smile ran into the penthouse right passed his Uncle and went straight to his Auntie, "Awtie Clwke!" He shouted as the blonde picked him up and hugged him close to her, "Hey Gus."

Octavia came in pulling two luggage suitcases, Lincoln followed suit with a tiny car seat and a duffle bag strapped over his shoulder, "Augustus!" Octavia shouted, watching him with her sister-in-law worriedly, "Be careful."

Bellamy hugged his sister, "Hey O."

"Been a while, huh?" Octavia asked.

"Well seeing as we can't really travel, I'd say so."

Octavia's eyes brightened and she placed her bags down by the stairs and went over to her sister-in-law, "Hey Clarke."

"Hey O," she grinned and hugged the brunette close with her one free arm as Gus struggled to be put down in the other. Clarke handed him to Octavia, who told her son to behave before she set him down. Octavia leaned down to place her ear on Clarke's swollen stomach, "How's Little Octavia doing in there?"

"Restless as ever," Clarke replied as Bellamy came over with Lincoln and a barely one-year-old toddler, "Why hello there Avan," Clarke cooed as reached out and took the little boy from his father.

"Careful Octavia, it could be a boy," Bellamy warned his sister playfully, watching Clarke with his nephew with a loving look in his eyes.

Octavia scoffed, "Bellamy if you had a boy you'd-"

Before Octavia could finish there was another knock on the door. Before anyone could go open the door for the guests, Miller and Monty and Maya and Jasper strolled in. 

Miller and Monty held hands with Alaina, their 5-year-old daughter they adopted 2 years ago. While Maya carried in her and Jasper's 2-year-old son, Aaron, with Jasper following closely behind.

"Octavia!" Little Alaina screamed and struggled from her fathers' grips to race to the brunette.

Octavia bent down and picked up the kid with a wide smile, "Hey baby girl, you've gotten so big!"

Bellamy stood protectively next to Clarke, eyeing her and Avan with a cautious expression, one that she couldn't resist leaning over and kissing him softly for. She handed him his nephew and waddled over to Maya and Jasper, "Hey guys."

"Clarke," Maya said happily, handing Aaron to Jasper and hugging the expectant mother close, "How's the baby?"

"Active," she replied, "Baby likes to keep me awake."

Jasper smiled sympathetically and hugged Clarke with his free arm, "Well the baby will be out of there soon, when's your due date again?"

"Next week, but I'm anxious to pop the baby out already," she hesitated then added, "I want to meet them."

Miller came over, overhearing the conversation and slung his arm around Clarke's neck gently, "How's Bellamy taking it?"

"Oh," Clarke laughed, "Ever since I hit my third trimester he won't let me do anything by myself and with Octavia and Lincoln visiting Lincoln's family for the past three months, all his attention has been focused on me."

Monty gave her a quick sympathetic hug before going over to Bellamy, Octavia, and Lincoln, talking about how big Avan's got. The kids that could walk were running around the apartment with excitement, which included Gus, Alaina, and Aaron, but the little 2-year-old was struggling to keep up.

The door slammed open once again for what Clarke hoped was the last time, her poor wall was suffering. Raven strolled in with Wick hot on her heels, the two were taking things slow, which Wick was incredibly patient with. They decided that they were going to get married in the upcoming spring, which Clarke was happy about because Raven looked like she was ready for it.

Without hesitation Raven walked straight over to Clarke, "Look at you, looking all motherly and shit."

"Shut up Rae," Clarke laughed and hugged Raven, then Wick as he followed behind his fiancé, "I miss you guys!" The blonde exclaimed.

Wick smiled and wrapped his arm around Raven's waist, "Admit it," he told the Latina with a chuckle, "you miss having her at the apartment."

"No," Raven said stubbornly, "Wick we've had this discussion before, it's been 2 years since she got married and moved out... and if you keep bringing it up like this I'm going to kick you out too."

Clarke laughed, "Raven you didn't kick me out though."

"I know," Raven sighed, giving in and gave Clarke a sad look, "I miss you too, you should stop by more."

"Same to you," Clarke answered with a wide grin and a hand placed softly on her best friend's arm.

Clarke looked up and met Bellamy's eyes from across the room as Raven and Wick made their way around to say hello to everyone. He smiled at her just before Avan pulled at his hair and he broke their gaze to pull his hair from the boy's tiny fist.

Clarke knew she was lucky to have him. She felt bad for Echo, she let her own stupidity get in the way of her loving this beautiful man. She used him, much like her own father used her to pin tax fraud to her name. She was now serving in prison, not that Clarke was complaining, bitch deserved it.

Octavia took her son from Bellamy and murmured an apology, Clarke was pulled from her thoughts and waddled over, tucking herself into his side. One of his arms slung around her shoulder, the other rested gently on top of her swollen belly. There was an audible click of a camera and they both turned their heads to see Raven standing there holding her iPhone up, smirking, "Whoops." She singsonged without much sincerity in it at all.

Remembering why all these people were at the penthouse in the first place, she leaned up a bit and whispered into her husband's ear, "Bellamy, the foods getting cold."

He nodded, pulling away from her hesitantly, like it caused him pain, "Okay ladies and children take a seat, boys follow me."

In the past three years, the group had developed a tradition, ladies sat down at the table and strapped their kids into the high chairs while the boys grabbed the food and brought it to the table.

Clarke was helped into a seat by Raven and Octavia, who at this point were nearly as bad as Bellamy was.

The guys brought out pots and platters, placing them all on the mats and coasters set out on the table that Clarke had irritably directed Bellamy to set up earlier. Once the meal was served, the conversations started (that was personally Clarke's favorite part of the whole meal).

Everyone started to pile food on their plates, no one said "Grace" at Clarke and Bellamy's after an accidental food fight broke out between Jasper and Monty about who was going to say it. Now everyone just says it in their heads.

"Oh my god..." Wick exclaimed, his eyes wide and mouth still clamped on is fork, "This stuffing is amazing!"

Bellamy grinned proudly at Wick, "Thank you."

"Uh hey!" Clarke said indignantly, "You're forgetting who gave you the recipe and showed you how to cook this food in the first place."

Bellamy looked at Clarke, "I'm perfectly fine handling myself in the kitchen."

Lincoln gave Bellamy a look that made it clear he disagreed with him.

"No you aren't," Octavia laughed, "Clarke told me that you didn't know what a whisk was used for and tried to use it as a wire head massager."

The table erupted in laughter as Bellamy ducked his head in embarrassment. This was the first year that Clarke didn't cook because Bellamy wouldn't allow her near the kitchen, and she didn't have it in her to argue.

"Bell," Clarke said to him quietly as the laughter died down, "You did pretty good for someone who's never really cooked before."

He grabbed her hand under the table and squeezed it tightly. Jasper was fighting Aaron for control of his fork with mashed potatoes on it, "Jasper!" Maya scolded him, "Don't-"

Maya didn't get the chance to finish because the kid let go and Jasper's hand was thrown back, the clump of mashed potatoes flying off and becoming airborne. It flew across the table and hit Raven on the cheek. The table went silent as they waited for the brunettes angry outburst, except for Alaina, who's laugh burst out and filled the silence. Miller and Monty tried to shush her but it was too late, she was laughing too hard. Alaina's cute little 5-year-old laugh, threw everyone into laughing fits, even Raven couldn't help but crack a smile.

Clarke leaned over to the Latina beside her and used her fork to wipe the mashed potatoes off of her face and ate them. To Clarke it seemed that everyone was enjoying this family time all together, even herself.

As the laughter ceased and young toddler babbling took its place as background noise, Miller spoke up hesitantly, "Bellamy, I got a call yesterday-"

"No Miller, no talk of business at Christmas time, you know that," Bellamy interrupted his publicist and laid his fork down on his plate.

Clarke rolled her eyes, sharing the same annoyed look with Octavia before she turned to Miller, "Well I want to hear it so tell me." Octavia nodded in agreement.

"Clarke-" Bellamy tried.

Clarke put her hand up, immediately silencing him, then gestured for Miller to continue, "Well I got this call yesterday from TedTalk. They want to know if you're interested in speaking about your business and how you-and I quote- "rose from the ashes" to become successful."

"Damn!" Wick commented, ignoring the elbow in the side he received from Raven, "That's good news, right?"

Clarke smiled at Bellamy, "That's great news, see? I knew Miller wouldn't bring it up unless it was something good."

Bellamy sat there motionless, staring at the table like he was deep in thought, "It sounds like it's a good idea, could get me more awareness about my products. When is it?"

"They want you to prepare a presentation and go to LA in three months," Miller recited like he'd memorized it, something Clarke didn't doubt he did.

"Three months?" Bellamy faced Clarke, "You and the baby-"

"Will be fine! We can't go see you obviously but I'll have O and Rae to help me, Bellamy. You can't miss this opportunity!" Clarke said happily, squeezing his hand encouragingly.

Clarke knew that her husband wanted to go, she could see it in his eyes. He searched her eyes for any sign of doubt, when he didn't see it he nodded, "Okay. I'll go. Miller you can tell them I accept after dinner."

Miller nodded as Alaina spoke up, "Dad? Do I have to eat the green circles?"

"The pees? Yes sweetie you do," Monty said, stabbing three into her fork, "Just try them."

"Daddy," Alaina said, turning to Miller, "I don't want to eat the pees."

There were chuckles around the table as the group watched Alaina try to pit her two dads against each other.

"Alaina," Miller scolded, causing the little girl to cross her arms and pout, "Eat what your Dad tells you to."

Alaina angrily shoved the food into her mouth and huffed, staring daggers at the plate of food in front of her. The table casually moved on and everyone pretended not to notice to save Miller and Monty from any embarrassment.

"Bellamy," Lincoln spoke up, "where's the other tub of gravy?" He was holding the empty jug, but Clarke had prepared Bellamy for this happening by having him make two.

Bellamy looked around the table, "It's probably still in the kitchen."

He made a move to stand but Lincoln waved him down and stood himself, "I'll get it, you stay seated. You've done enough for everyone here."

Bellamy smiled softly at his brother-in-law as he walked into the kitchen and lowered his gaze to look at Octavia. The siblings shared a smile, both thinking about how lucky they were to have Lincoln.

"Jasper and Monty," Raven began, breaking the comfortable silence, her lips rising in a smirk as Jasper looked up with a mouth full of turkey and Monty turned his head to raise an eyebrow quizzically, "I'm thinking of letting off those firework rockets you guys made last summer. Clarke hid them somewhere in this place, we just have to find them."

Clarke sighed, "Raven... you know I was hoping they'd forget all about those."

It was too late, their faces rose and their eyes brightened, "Raven you're a genius!" Jasper exclaimed as he and Monty shared a look the rest of the group knew too well.

"Oh no," Clarke and Octavia groaned at the same time, well aware of the search party that was about to start. The two of them were the ones to hide the dangerous rockets in the first place.

Lincoln walked back into the dining room carrying a new jug of gravy, he took his seat next to Octavia and noticed both her and Clarke's exasperated expressions, "What did I miss?"

"Oh nothing out of the ordinary, just Raven reminding Jasper and Monty of certain firework rockets that they made," Wick said.

Lincoln nodded, "Oh I see."

Maya had her elbow on the table and her head resting in her hand and Miller just sighed heavily, it was clear that there was no stopping Jasper and Monty now.

Once the meal was finished, Octavia cleared her throat, "So Lincoln an I have news."

"You're pregnant again?" Bellamy asked.

Octavia beamed, "Our third and final baby."

"Congratulations," Clarke smiled a little forced. Something felt off, her baby was shifting was too much. She placed a hand on her stomach and rubbed it softly.

As everyone congratulated the couple, Raven leaned over and whispered from beside her, "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, the baby is shifting," Clarke didn't realize that her face betrayed how much the baby's moving made her feel uncomfortable.

Raven nodded and the conversation around the table changed to something about where Raven and Wick were living, Clarke wanted to enjoy this time with her family but the baby just wouldn't settle. The baby pushed on her bladder and she suddenly was hit with the desperate need to pee, struggling to get up until both Raven and Bellamy helped her, "Clarke?" Bellamy asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, Bellamy, I just have to pee," she kissed his cheek and headed towards the bathroom.

Newly relieved she sighed in relief, washing her hands and looking down at her stomach, "Honestly baby, you couldn't wait until after dinner?"

As she was leaving the bathroom. she felt her water break and froze, unable to move.

After a minute of standing there shocked, she took a deep breath, "Bellamy?" She called, keeping her voice light. She heard a chair scraping against the floor and Bellamy appeared a few seconds later, he took the sight of her in, hand over her stomach, standing with her legs apart. He grinned, "It's time?"

Clarke nodded and he lurched forward to kiss her firmly, "Okay, let's go have a baby."

12 pain filled hours later on December 25th, their little girl Aurora Rhea Blake was born. The perfect Christmas gift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave comments and kudos and tell me how you felt about the ending! Thank you all so so much!


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